


A Whole New World

by mandeebobandee



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, Near Death Experiences
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2018-08-29
Packaged: 2019-06-11 03:51:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 23,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15306879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mandeebobandee/pseuds/mandeebobandee
Summary: Movie night in the Mind Palace goes a little differently than the Sides expect..





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this plot bunny has been bouncing around in my head for a while, and I finally got around to writing it out. Don't worry, I still plan on working on A Brief History of Virgil as well. Also, Virgil will likely be the main character of this, as he tends to be my 'go-to', so to speak. Anyway, without further ado..chapter 1 of my newest plot bunny!

If nothing else, the common area of the Mind Palace was generally safe and predictable. It was the area where all of the Sides within Thomas' mind could gather without having to worry about any of the influences that their own areas could have on the other Sides. Virgil's room was particularly dangerous, able to send the other Sides into a panic attack if they spent too much time within its walls. For this reason, the other Sides didn't spend as much time in Virgil's room, and if they did, it was typically for a short period of time.

This worked out, though. Virgil was an introvert, and relied on ample amounts of alone time to build up his energy. Logan was similar. Patton and Roman were the two extroverts, and thus spent the most time out in the common area. They were also the two that usually pulled Virgil and Logan out of their rooms for 'famILY get-togethers'.

Virgil was curled up on the couch with his phone, scrolling through Tumblr. Logan was seated in a nearby chair, reading a book. Roman was going around the living room singing Disney songs, and Patton was in the kitchen scurrying around trying to put the finishing touches on snacks that he and Roman prepared earlier. 

_"You two ARE planning on looking up once the movie starts, right? It doesn't make for a very enjoyable Disney Movie Night if two out of the four participants aren't even participating!"_

Logan rolled his eyes. _"Of course we intend to watch the movie, but the movie has not started and I wanted to read a few more pages of my book in the meantime."_

Virgil just let out a snort and pressed reblog on a post about Halloween, along with the usual comments afterward protesting that it was the middle of summer, why were people posting about Halloween now?

Because Halloween was an experience that could not be confined to one month, THAT was why.

 _"Got the snacks! Coming through!"_ Patton darted past Roman, who was doing a twirl and singing "A Whole New World". He carried a few bags of chips under his arms, as well as two big bowls of popcorn in either hand. 

The sound of thunder outside nearly sent one of the bowls tumbling out of Patton's grasp. Virgil leaped upward at once and caught the bowl that Patton almost dropped, his status at the fight or flight reflex providing him with a reaction time much faster than any of the other sides.

Patton smiled graciously at him. _"Thanks kiddo."_ Patton set the rest of the items down on the table in front of the couch, Virgil setting down the bowl that he was carrying. Virgil took a seat, slipping his phone into the pocket of his hoodie. Patton took a seat on the couch next to him, and Roman made his way over to the TV.

_"So, what shall we watch today?"_

_"Why not Aladdin? You seem to be in an Aladdin mood today, with the song you're singing!"_ Patton beamed. He loved Disney night almost as much as Roman did.

"So long as Princey agrees not to sing along with the whole movie, I'm game." Virgil smirked.

Roman shot him an affronted look. _"Excuse me? You're just jealous because I have the best voice out of all of us!"_

 _"We technically have the same voice.."_ Logan pointed out, before another crash of thunder sounded from outside.

 _"Wow, it's really raining cats and dogs out there!"_ Roman remarked as he heard the telltale noise of rain pouring down onto the roof off the Mind Palace. Virgil didn't really understand what the big deal was - For one, he liked thunderstorms, despite what most would think. Sure, the thunder startled him occasionally, but the rain was oddly soothing. In addition, it was a storm within the Mind Palace, which ultimately fell to their and Thomas' influence. If the others truly disliked the storm that much, they could put an end to it, could they not? It wasn't like it was something out of the nightmare realm, something outside of their control.

 _"Oooo, really? We should go out there and catch a few then!"_ Patton clapped his hands together in delight.

 _"Patton, it's just a figure of speech.."_ Logan sighed.

Virgil opened his mouth to tell Logan that Patton likely already knew this, but decided against it. Let them have their fun. He went to take one last look at his phone before the movie started when the room suddenly exploded into a bright light. Virgil immediately covered his eyes.

"Roman, what the crap?!" He heard an odd rushing sound then..a car horn?

Virgil removed his hand from his eyes, taking in his surroundings - his entirely different surroundings. This was not the Mind Palace. He squinted. This was...

There was that car horn again! Virgil let out a grunt of frustration and turned to the source of the noise, only for his eyes to widen immediately. There was a car, and it was coming right for him. Virgil tried to will his legs to move, but he remained utterly frozen. The only thing that he could will his body to do was to cover his ears at the sound of the car's squealing breaks and close his eyes, preparing for the worst possible scenario...

..a scenario that would never come. Virgil slowly cracked his eyes open, only to find that the car that had previously been barreling toward him was now stopped mere feet away from him.

Virgil watched as the driver's side car door opened and out stepped a woman in her mid to late 40s. 

_"Oh my word! Are you alright sir?"_

Virgil blinked and looked behind him. Was Thomas around, or someone else? Surely she wouldn't be talking to him. Thomas must have called on him for help, that was why he wasn't in the mind palace, but where was Thomas? He hadn't gotten hit by the car, had he?

_"Hello? Sir?"_

..no, she was staring directly at him.

_"Sir? Can you hear me? Are you alright?"_

"I...uh..." His vision began to gray out as dizziness overcame him, and he could feel himself falling forward. At least his mind took enough mercy on him to black out just before he hit the ground.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The character of Dr. Sundry belongs to my friend Koko, or @kokosurvives on tumblr. =)

Virgil was laying on a hard surface. He felt someone run a hand over his head.

"Ungh..Patton, is that you?"

_"Patton? Is that someone important to you?"_

That was a woman's voice. Virgil shot upward into a seated position at once as he realized with growing dread that no, this still was not the Mind Palace. What he'd experienced before was not a dream.

Then what the hell was it?

_"Careful, don't want you to faint again!"_

Now that he was seated, he was less worried about fainting and more worried about falling into a full blown panic attack. He closed his eyes.

Breathe in for 4 seconds, hold for 7 seconds, breathe out for 8 seconds...

He did this a few times before opening his eyes once more. The woman looked concerned..he could hardly blame her.

_"What is your name?"_

Virgil blinked at her. Oh, he supposed a name would help if she didn't want to keep addressing him as 'sir'. "Virgil," he responded, still slightly in awe of the fact that she was speaking to him in the first place.

_"Your last name?"_

What? Oh...he'd never needed a last name before. In the Mind Palace Virgil always sufficed. He was the only Virgil there was. If he was where he suspected, however...

"S-Sanders. Virgil Sanders."

_"What is your date of birth, Mr. Sanders?"_

It felt weird being addressed as Mr. Sanders. It felt even weirder being asked for his date of birth when he'd never had one. He had his 'birthday', sure, but that was an arbitrary date chosen based on his first appearance. It wasn't an actual birth date. The closest thing he had to a birth date was Thomas'.

"04/24/89."

_"What year is it?"_

What was this, 20 questions? Virgil huffed but responded nevertheless. At least this was a question that he could answer easily. 

"2018."

_"And where are we presently located?"_

..uh. Good question. He had a feeling that 'outside of the Mind Palace' would result in more unwanted questions, so he had to think fast.

"On the side of the road in, uh, Florida?"

This seemed to please the woman, who smiled. _"Well you seem oriented to time and place at least."_

Huh, really? Could have fooled him.

_"Dr. Juliana Sundry, by the way."_

...of all the people who could have nearly run him over, he was nearly run over by a doctor? Go figure.

"It's, uh, nice to meet you, I guess."

_"Do you need any help standing up or do you think you can do it yourself?"_

Virgil ran a hand through his hair as he watched a couple of cars drive past. "I'd rather stay seated right now honestly." For someone supposedly oriented to time and space he certainly felt disoriented.

 _"What were you doing in the middle of the road anyway?"_ The doctor asked. Virgil snorted. Of course she would.

"Would you believe me if I said I don't know?"

The woman frowned. Crap, was that the wrong thing to say? Was she going to insist he get his head checked out? He'd been doing so well too...

 _"I'm not sure, honestly. If I didn't know better, I'd swear that you appeared in the middle of the road in a flash of light! But that's absurd, isn't it?"_ The woman chuckled. 

Virgil hesitantly joined her, but his mind was reeling. She'd seen it too, then. Of course she was going to convince herself that she hadn't, because it was outside of her realm of understanding, but she'd seen exactly what he experienced. For some reason, that was comforting.

_"Do you need a ride?"_

Virgil's head snapped up at once. "Hmmm?"

_"Do you need a ride? I'm heading into the city and I could drop you off if you need me to."_

The city? What city?

_"I still have a couple of hours before I need to be at my conference in Orlando so I have some extra time."_

So he wasn't that far from where Thomas lived. That was a relief.

"Uh..." Did he want to take a ride with this woman? He didn't know her. For all he knew she might be a serial killer. On the other hand? He was a fish out of water, a Side out of mind. He literally had nothing but the clothes on his back. 

"Sure, I'll take a ride." He slipped his hand into the pocket of his hoodie, feeling around for his phone. At least he could call 911 if he needed to.

Virgil rose to his feet and slowly made his way over to the woman's car. He pulled the door open and slid into the passenger seat. The woman glanced over at him and shot him a smile. He gave her a feeble smile in return. He pulled his seatbelt on.

Dr. Sundry pulled away from the side of the road and began to drive down the highway. Virgil would occasionally glance out the window or at Dr. Sundry, but he mostly kept to his phone. His phone was the one thing that hadn't changed, the only possessions of his other than his clothes and the ring on his hand...

Wait. What?

The Anxious Side held out his hand in front of him. His left hand bore a ring with a medium-sized purple stone on it. He'd never seen it before in his life. He removed it from his finger and studied it closer.

 _"Nice ring you have there,"_ the doctor remarked.

"Uh, thanks." Virgil responded before pocketing the ring.

_"Have you tried calling any of your friends or family to let them know where you are?"_

..huh. No, he hadn't. Was there anyone he could call? He rarely needed to use his phone for those purposes, though the Sides did occasionally text one another if they wished to communicate without leaving their own respective rooms.

Did any of the Sides other than himself even have their phones on them? Were they still in the Mind Palace or had something similar happened to them?

Virgil decided to send out a quick group text. 

**Virgil:** Hey guys, anyone there?

His finger hovered over the send button for a moment or so before he finally worked up the courage to send it.

He closed his eyes and leaned back in his seat for a moment. This was all so much to deal with...he could hear his heartbeat in his ears and he had a headache.

_"Did you get anyone?"_

Virgil glanced over at the doctor and shook his head before realizing that the woman's eyes were on the road rather than on him. "No one's responded back yet."

The woman shrugged, putting on her turn signal and merging into the center lane to make a left turn.

_"At least you tried."_

Virgil nodded and went back to surfing Tumblr. At least he could do one thing that resembled normal.

His phone chimed. Virgil's hand froze. He swiped over to the text screen. He had a response.

 **Logan:** Virgil? I have never seen anything like this before...it appears that we are outside of the Mind Palace! Incredible!

So he wasn't the only one after all...


	3. Chapter 3

Virgil kept checking, but Logan remained the only one to respond to the group text that he sent out. Virgil wasn't sure if that meant that he and Logan were the only ones affected, or if that meant that the others were affected too and just didn't have their phones on them.

 _"We're here."_ Dr. Sundry's voice broke through his thoughts and he glanced upward from his phone.

The sign in front of the building read Orlando Public Library. This was the meeting place that he and Logan agreed upon. Dr. Sundry pulled into a parking spot and parked the car, both driver and passenger stepping out and peering around.

_"Do you see the person you're looking for anywhere?"_

Virgil shook his head. "Not yet. Maybe he's closer to the building." 

Sure enough, Logan stood just outside of the front door of the library. As soon as he spotted Virgil and Dr. Sundry, he gave a half wave of acknowledgement. Virgil tried not to look as relieved as he felt, in case it was too good to be true.

_"Greetings Virgil. I don't believe that I've met your new acquaintance?"_

Virgil stared at Logan in confusion before he realized that Logan was asking him in a roundabout way to introduce Dr. Sundry to him.

_"Oh, right. Logan, this is Dr. Sundry. Dr. Sundry, this is Logan, my...my brother."_

If Dr. Sundry noticed the slight fumble that Virgil made when introducing Logan as his brother, she made no verbal note of it, much to Virgil's relief.

 _"It's a pleasure to meet you, Logan."_ She held out a hand for Logan to shake, which Logan met with his own hand.

The doctor turned back to Virgil. _"Well, I should head to my conference. But here, you can take my number in case you need anything else."_ Dr. Sundry hastily jotted her number onto the back of what appeared to be a receipt and stuffed it into Virgil's hand.

"Thanks for the ride." Virgil smiled. In spite of his (totally understandable) misgivings at first, she'd gotten him where he needed to go. With the strange situation he and Logan were in, it wouldn't hurt to save the number just in case they needed assistance at a later time.

With Dr. Sundry gone, Virgil turned back to Logan. "Did you get a hold of any of the others?"

Logan shook his head. _"No I did not, and I assume by your line of questioning that you did not either."_

Virgil shook his head, fiddling with one of the zippers on his hoodie. He was relieved to have found Logan, but not knowing what happened to Roman and Patton? That was worrisome. 

_"I also tried Thomas' number but there was no answer."_

Thomas' number? Why hadn't he thought of that? What's more.. _why_ wasn't there an answer? Was Thomas busy? Then again, had Thomas ever received a call from any of the Sides? It was possible that he didn't recognize the number and thus neglected to pick up the phone. It was what Virgil would do in a similar situation.

Nevermind that, though. They had much bigger concerns.

 _"That leaves it to just the two of us to work this out for now,"_ Logan observed.

"Don't rub it in please," Virgil mumbled.

_"I'm not sure what you...oh, the reminder that we are essentially alone in our endeavor for the time being leads to an increase in your anxiety."_

"Bingo." Virgil continued to play with the zipper. That Logan felt in necessary to repeat the situation again as he worked out what Virgil was trying to say did not help Virgil's nerves in the least.

_"There are two plausible theories that come to mind. The first, that Roman and Patton are still in the Mind Palace, feels unlikely. That flash of light encompassed the entire room. The other more probable outcome is that Roman and Patton are out here as well, but they did not have their phones on them as we were cast out of the Mind Palace."_

No phones. If Roman and Patton had no phones, how would they ever find the other two Sides? Virgil bit hard on his lip, trying to suppress a groan. This just kept getting worse and worse. And here he thought that reuniting with Logan would make him feel better.

_"Let's have a seat in the library while we discuss our options. It will give us access to potentially useful information, and it will allow us a chance to rest our feet and enjoy the air conditioning."_

Were Virgil paying more attention to Logan than to the slight buzzing in his own head, he might have realized that Logan was eying him closely as he rocked side to side. He followed Logan into the library and wordlessly took a seat at a table near the window.

In four seconds. Hold seven seconds. Out eight seconds.

Once he had more control over his own breathing, he looked across the table to Logan, who took the sear across from him. His hands were folded neatly in front of him, and Virgil jolted as he spotted something unusual about Logan's hands.

"You have one too?" He blurted out. 

Logan looked at him in bewilderment. _"Have one what?"_

Virgil fishes around in the right pocket of his hoodie, finding and pulling out the ring that he'd placed in his pocket a couple of hours earlier. "A ring."

Logan took the ring from Virgil's hand and examined it before taking a closer look at the ring on his own finger. _"I was curious before, but I am even more curious now that I know you have a ring as well. Intriguing. I wonder what this could mean."_

Virgil took the ring back from Logan and placed it on his finger. If nothing else, it would give him something to play around with and fidget with when he was feeling particularly anxious. And he felt less strange about having it now that he knew that Logan had one as well. Once again, Logan's voice broke through his reverie.

_"I just realized, it is 5 in the afternoon."_

"..and?" Why did it matter what time it was? They had much bigger things to worry about!

_"This library closes in two hours."_

Virgil still wasn't entirely sure where Logan was going with this statement, and gestured with his hand for Logan to keep going. 

_"We don't have anywhere to go."_

..oh. Oh crap. They had nowhere to go, and no money to find a place to stay the night. They did not even have identification on them. Where would they even begin? What were they going to do? Were they going to have to sleep on the street? A shudder went through Virgil and he subconsciously pulled his hoodie tighter around himself. Not good notgoodnotgood...

Logan, on the other hand, looked thoughtful. Virgil soon realized why. _"..do you still have that doctor's number?"_

Virgil sighed. It looked as though he would have to call in a favor from Dr. Sundry much sooner than he thought.


	4. Chapter 4

Virgil sat on the edge of his bed in the hotel room that he was sharing with Logan. Upon hearing that Virgil and Logan had no place to stay, she offered to purchase a hotel room for them at the same hotel that she would be staying at. 

Virgil knew that he ought to be relieved that they had a place to stay for the night, but he couldn't bring himself to relax. Not when he knew that this was a temporary arrangement. Dr. Sundry was already going above and beyond with the help that she'd offered. Virgil already felt that he owed Dr. Sundry for the ride, let alone the stay in the hotel room. 

But what could he or Logan offer in return? The only items that they had in their possession were their clothes, phones, and the rings. Virgil supposed that the rings might be worth something, but there was no way of knowing that for sure. 

"It just doesn't feel right, using her like this."

_"We are not using her, Virgil. She offered us a favor and we took her up on that offer. We had no other option unless we wanted to sleep on the street."_

Virgil took a quick glance at the TV, which was playing the news at a low volume - low enough so as not to disrupt any conversation between Virgil and Logan, but high enough that it provided background noise. 

He glanced back at Logan, who set his phone down on the mini nightstand located next to his bed. _"Still no response from Patton, Roman, or Thomas."_

Patton and Roman? Virgil wasn't surprised about that. He suspected that Patton and Roman did not have their phones on them when they were ejected from the Mind Palace (assuming that they underwent the same fate as Virgil and Logan, of course). Thomas, though? Thomas ought to have answered by this point. "Did you leave a voicemail message for him?"

Logan nodded. _"Still nothing. I'm beginning to worry about Thomas."_

" _You're_ starting to worry? You really know what to say to make a guy feel better, Lo," he let out a nervous chuckle. 

"Yes, well, I question Thomas' ability to function without us, if we have indeed been ejected from his mind."

That was a harrowing thought. He was usually the one who came up with doomsday theories like that. But..was it really a doomsday theory? If they were indeed ejected from Thomas' mind, and they each represented vital functions of Thomas..where did that leave Thomas? 

As true as Logan's words were, they did not soothe Virgil in the least. He held his hand to his chest and felt the steady beating of his heart underneath his palm. His pulse was slightly elevated, but given the topic of conversation that was to be expected. At least it didn't feel as though his heart was about to burst from his chest.

There was a knock on the door. Virgil nearly fell off of the bed in surprise, but Logan made his way over to the door. 

"Logan!" Virgil hissed, Logan stopping in his tracks.

_"What?"_

"Look through the peephole first."

Logan sighed, but did as Virgil instructed. He pulled the door open, Virgil's gaze shooting to the door immediately. If Logan opened it even after looking through the peephole, that (hopefully) meant that Logan accurately assessed that the person at the door was not a threat.

The person in question was Dr. Sundry, who held a box of pizza in her hands. 

_"I figured if the two of you were having difficulty finding a place to stay, you'd probably have difficulty finding dinner as well. Go ahead and dig in,"_ the woman set the pizza box on the desk against the wall. 

_"Thank you, your assistance is much appreciated,"_ Logan responded formally yet graciously.

Virgil, on the other hand, wrung his hands together. "Thank you, but..but you don't have to do all of this." 

Dr. Sundry shook her head. _"My job is to help those in need. Usually in the medical sense, but not always. The two of you appeared to be in need."_

Virgil swallowed past a lump in his throat, his respiration rate beginning to increase. "But there's no way that we can pay you back and...and..."

Dr. Sundry folded her arms. _"I do not expect you to pay me back, especially if you are unable to do so. I do not want you to go without food or a place to stay for the night. And I refuse to let you refuse, so save it."_

Huh. There wasn't much arguing with that.

Dr. Sundry left, leaving one pizza for Virgil and Logan to split. There were ten slices in total and each of them had three, leaving four slices as leftovers for the next day. Virgil placed the remaining pieces onto paper plates and placed them into the hotel room's refrigerator, not wanting to leave them out overnight.

 _"Well breakfast and/or lunch is taken care of at least."_ Logan remarked after that was said and done.

"Pretty sure I read that free breakfast is provided by the hotel."

_"Even better."_

Though Virgil agreed, they still needed a more permanent solution to their predicament, and the fact that they did not weighed heavily on him. He didn't even have his headphones on him, though his phone did have most of his music on it. He just wasn't sure how much Logan would appreciate it. Still..music would help his mental statement. It usually did.

"Hey Lo?"

_"Yes, Virge?"_

"You mind if I listen to some music?"

Logan glanced over at Virgil. _"I suppose, so long as it isn't too loud."_

Virgil made sure that the volume was turned down enough so as not to disturb Logan too much, but loud enough that he could still hear it. Logan glanced upward, Virgil hastily reaching for his phone to turn down the volume further.

_"You do not have to turn it down. I'm listening to it."_

"Oh. Uh, enjoy?"

Logan looked thoughtful. _"This song is adequate. Who is the artist? Is it Anxiety! At The Rollerskating Rink?"_

It was a good thing that Virgil wasn't drinking because he would have done a spit take at that one. As it was, it took several seconds before Virgil stopped laughing enough to regain his composure and actually answer Logan's inquiry. "Are you guessing the band name or are you trying to ask me out on a date?" Virgil smirked upon seeing how flustered Logan became, but then decided to cut Logan some slack. "Do you mean Panic! At the Disco?"

_"Ah yes, Panic! At The Disco. Is that the artist?"_

Virgil shook his head, tilting his phone a little so that Logan could see the screen. "It's Green Day. I could pull up some Panic! At The Disco if you want to hear what they sound like, though?"

Logan shook his head. _"Only if you wish to listen to them. I am merely observing your taste in music and what it might say about you as a person."_

"Okay.." Virgil shrugged and leaned back against the headboard of his bed.

He made it through several songs (one of which was by Panic! At The Disco) when another tune cut through the middle of 'Misery Business'. 

"..is that the Rainforest Rap?"

Logan declined to answer, instead clearing his throat before reaching for his phone. Virgil paused his music. The tune was coming from Logan's phone.

"..that's definitely the Rainforest Rap." He grinned in amusement. Only Logan would have the Rainforest Rap as his ringtone.

Logan ignored him in favor of answering his phone. _"Hello?"_

There was a pause, and then, _"Patton?"_


	5. Chapter 5

Virgil was having an awfully hard time staying still. He was aware of Logan's eyes tracing his movements as he paced back and forth, but he couldn't stay seated for long. Not when they were anticipating the arrival of a third Side.

After several moments of this, Logan rose to his feet. Virgil stopped in his tracks. "Is he here?"

Logan shook his head. _"He's not, but we ought to warn the hotel staff that there will be a third guest in our room. I hope that they will be willing to work with us. I'm sure that this is not the first time they have encountered something as unanticipated as this."_

Probably not, but Virgil was glad that Logan volunteered to head to the hotel lobby instead. There was entirely too much risk involved in walking to the desk. What if they were told no? At least Logan would be able to articulate some sort of excuse that might get the hotel to agree to allowing a third guest in their room after all. Virgil would probably just clam up and run away.

He didn't do well with rejection. One would think that he would, given his history, but he'd seen his outcast status as a given at that point. He put up walls to protect himself, to reject them first so that their rejection would not hurt him so badly. Clearly he'd been mistaken in that case, but it was all too easy to imagine all of the things that could go wrong if he was the one to talk to the help desk.

Plus he was already on edge after..well, everything. He coped as well with change as he did rejection, and he'd experienced a whole slew of things that he'd never experienced before within the past 12 hours.

Honestly, it was nice having a few moments to himself to process his thoughts. If he closed his eyes, he could almost pretend that he was back in his room in the Mind Palace.

A knock on the door disrupted that. Virgil grunted and rolled his eyes, striding over to the door and pulling it open. He fully expected to see Logan there, though he realized a second too late that Logan would not have to knock because he had his key card with him and could have opened the door himself.

Dr. Sundry stood in the doorway. _"Logan informed me that you'd have an additional guest."_

Virgil's mouth fell open slightly, but no words came out. The woman smiled.

_"Don't worry, I don't mind paying for an extra guest to stay in the room. I don't think it will even impact the cost, and if it does it will do so by such a negligible amount that it doesn't matter."_

Virgil nodded, still unable to produce the words that he wished to say. Dr. Sundry turned to go back to her room and Virgil finally found his voice. "Uh, thanks. For everything."

The doctor just smiled at him before she turned back around and continued on her way.

Virgil exhaled and went back into the room, running a hand through his hair as he did a quick survey in the room. They had two beds and a roll-out sofa, which would give all three of them a place to sleep. Unless they received another surprise phone call from Roman, that would do for the night at least.

He reached over to look at his phone, realizing with a frown that it was down to a half charge and that he hadn't exactly had a charger stuffed into his hoodie when he brought his phone out into the common area of the Mind Palace earlier in the day.

Nor could he conjure up a phone charger to remedy this. They were not only outside of the Mind Palace but could interact with people who weren't Thomas. Conjuring wouldn't work out here. 

He decided to turn his phone off to conserve battery. While his phone still had a decent amount of juice left at 54%, he worried that if he left his phone running in this state it would slowly drain the battery and he wouldn't be able to use his phone when he needed it most.

That meant no more music to distract him from his thoughts, and the TV was still turned to the news. Nothing like the doom and gloom of the daily news cycle to distract one from their anxious thoughts, right?

Virgil huffed and turned off the TV, tossing the remote down after doing so.

He closed his eyes and once more tried to call up a mental picture of his room. Safety. Home. It was odd that a room that could cause so much turmoil within the other sides after they spent too long within its boundaries could feel like a haven to him. Then again, Patton's room had a similar effect on himself and Logan. It seemed as though each of the Sides' rooms were tailor-made to suit each of the Sides themselves, and that if other Sides spent too much time in another Side's room it could have detrimental effects on them.

Virgil wasn't sure. Such theories were more in Logan's area of expertise.

He opened his eyes when he heard the telltale creak of the door opening. He sat upright just in time for a heavy weight to crash into him and a pair of arms to wrap around him, squeezing him tightly.

_"VIRGIL!"_

Oh good, Patton was here now.

"Patton, I can't breathe."

_"Oops, I'm sorry Virgil!"_

Patton pulled away at once, but he was still beaming. Virgil could not help but smile in spite of himself at the sight of his best friend. Something about Patton's presence made the situation feel that much more hopeful. One might even say that Patton offered some _moral_ support. Three out of four of them were reunited. That was much better than he could have hoped for in such a short period of time. They might be able to fix this.

..or not. They were still missing Roman, and if Virgil, Logan, and Patton were all ejected from the Mind Palace, chances were Roman was as well. And it hardly seemed right to even attempt to return to the Mind Palace with a vital member of their group missing. He exchanged a worried glance with Logan, trying to hide it from Patton who still looked altogether pleased about being reunited with Virgil and Logan. Virgil didn't want to ruin that high, not just yet.

Logan cleared his throat. _"We should get some sleep. Patton, there's pizza in the fridge if you're hungry.."_

Patton smiled. _"No thanks, I already ate! The animal shelter I showed up at was giving out free hot dogs for an adoption day event so I had a couple of those. It was actually pretty clever. Hot dogs for dogs!"_

Virgil chuckled a little, while Logan let out an exasperated sigh and rubbed his forehead with the palm of his hand. "Oh, I did not miss those puns in the least."

 _"You know you missed me Logan!"_ Patton winked. 

Nevertheless, Logan was right. If they wanted to be at their full capacity to solve this problem and find Roman the next day, they needed rest. There was a minor argument over who would have what bed, with both Patton and Virgil insisting on taking the pull out sofa so that the other could have a bed. Logan finally sighed in frustration and offered to take the pull out bed himself if it would get Virgil and Patton to stop arguing, which only led to further arguing.

In the end, realizing that debating over who was getting the pull out bed was getting them nowhere, Logan pulled three stirring straws from near the coffee machine and with some effort twisted off the end of one of them so that it was shorter than the others. _"It looks like the only way we're going to solve this is to draw straws. Whoever gets the shortest straw gets the pull out bed."_

Which was all a bit silly, as the initial argument between Virgil and Patton was who was going to take the pull out bed so that the other wouldn't have to, but for the sake of actually getting to bed at a reasonable hour Virgil and Patton finally acquiesced.

First Virgil drew, then Logan, then Patton. Patton wound up with the short straw and happily bounded over to the pull out sofa. The three got ready for bed. Virgil opted to keep his pants on, feeling awkward about stripping down in front of the others, but he did at least slip his hoodie off. He folded it up and put it on the side table, leaving only his purple undershirt on before climbing under the covers proper.

Soon the lights were off, though Virgil still lay awake. It was for this reason that he'd wanted the pull out sofa bed, because he doubted he would get as much sleep as the other two would, and he wanted them to sleep comfortably. It didn't matter if he was comfortable if he wasn't going to be sleeping as much.

Eventually, though much belated compared to the other two, the sandman came to pay Virgil a visit. It was shortly after 2:30am.


	6. Chapter 6

_"Wakey-wakey sleepy head!"_

Virgil pulled the covers over his head further at Patton's voice as if trying to disappear within their folds. He didn't want to get out of bed yet. For someone who didn't like going to bed at night much, he didn't much like getting out of bed in the morning.

_"Time to wake up, kiddo!"_

A growl erupted from Virgil's throat. He just wanted a few more minutes to properly wake up. Was that so much to ask?

_"Virgil, they will only have free breakfast downstairs in the lobby for so long."_

Virgil shot upward at Logan's remark, the weight of the situation crashing back down on him like a wave. "It wasn't a dream?" He wondered aloud. 

_"Unfortunately not. We are still stranded outside of the Mind Palace,"_ Logan responded.

_"Sorry kiddo."_ Patton added.

Virgil ran a hand through his hair in frustration, but swung his legs over the side of the bed nevertheless. He slipped his hoodie on and made a quick trip to the bathroom, stopping in front of the mirror and fixing his hair so that his bangs were arranged in his face in their typical fashion. His frown deepened when he saw that his makeup was slightly smeared, and a jolt coursed through him as he realized that he did not have eyeliner to fix it with.

There was a knock at the door. _"You ready Virge?"_

Virgil emerged from the bathroom, nodded to Patton, and the three Sides made their way down to the hotel lobby.

The hotel was clearly a lot more crowded than he realized, because the breakfast buffet was packed. He let out a heavy sigh and immediately made a beeline for a table by the window. Patton and Logan followed close behind. As he sat down, he could already sense the questions coming and braced himself for them.

_"Don't you want breakfast?"_ Patton asked him.

Virgil shook his head. "I'm not hungry." His stomach, of course, chose precisely that moment to growl loudly.

Logan shot him a knowing look. Virgil folded his arms across his chest. "I'll watch the table, alright? We need to have a table to sit at. I'll go up there when you guys get back." 

This compromise seemed to satisfy Logan, and Virgil observed from his seat as Logan and Patton each went through the buffet, grabbing what they wanted. 

Patton came back first with a plate full of food and a large bowl of cereal. _"They have Lucky Charms, Virgil. Lucky Charms!"_

The corners of Virgil's mouth twitched upward at Patton's enthusiasm. 

Logan's voice came from behind Patton. _"Patton, breakfast should be a well balanced meal."_ Unlike Patton, Logan had a bowl of Cheerios, a biscuit with jelly on it, and some fruit. 

_"But Lucky Charms are so gooood! Taste the rainbow!"_

"...Patton that's Skittles."

_"Oh well, close enough!"_

_"Other than the copious amount of sugar contained within each, Skittles and Lucky Charms are nothing alike, Patton,"_ Logan remarked.

Virgil rose to his feet and made his way toward the breakfast buffet. His gamble turned out to be worth it, as there were fewer people at the buffet than there were a few minutes earlier. 

The Side came back to the table with a plate that contained eggs, sausage, and a bagel with cream cheese. He held a glass of orange juice in his other hand. He set his food and drink down before taking a seat himself, rolling up the sleeves of his hoodie slightly so that he did not get them dirty.

As he sat down, Logan immediately addressed him. _"As Patton and I were discussing, there is something peculiar about these rings we all have."_

Patton was scooping more cereal onto his spoon, allowing Virgil to see the light reflecting off of the light blue ring that sat on Patton's finger.

"He has one too. We all have these things. Why?" He took a bite of his bagel as he awaited a response from one of the other two.

_"That remains a mystery, sadly."_

Virgil groaned. What was the point in even discussing the rings then? He picked up his fork and stabbed at his scrambled eggs.

_"Patton and I did observe one item of note,"_ Logan remarked. He held his hand out in front of him as if to allow Virgil to study the ring before clearing his throat and speaking. _"Logic."_

The moment Logan uttered the word, the ring on his finger began to glow dark blue. This lasted a moment or so before the glow faded and the ring returned to its prior state.

"...so the rings glow. What does that mean?"

_"I have a hypothesis that I would like to test, but I need assistance from Patton and yourself."_

"...I'm not going to agree to anything until you tell me what I'm agreeing to."

Logan chuckled. _"I expected as much. I simply need you to state the name you used to go by before we revealed to Thomas our actual names."_

_"Oh!"_ Patton interjected. _"You mean like Morality?"_

Patton's ring began to glow in a similar fashion to Logan's. _"Oooh, neato!"_

_"Logic,"_ Logan's ring began to glow once more. Logan and Patton immediately turned their attention to Virgil.

"Uh..."

_"Come on Virgil, you try!"_ Patton smiled encouragingly.

Virgil looked at the ring in his hand, toying with it a little before letting out a sigh. "Fine. Anxiety."

Virgil's ring immediately began to glow purple in a similar fashion to Logan's dark blue and Patton's light blue. His finger felt warm and tingly where the ring rested, and it took everything in Virgil's power not to rip the ring off of his fingers and toss it across the room. He wasn't sure what to make of this glowing, and therefore did not trust it.

All three rings ceased their glowing at different rates. Logan's was the first to darken, followed by Patton's, and finally Virgil's a moment after that. The same order they'd followed in the first place.

_"Intriguing,"_ Logan muttered as he studied his own ring on all sides as if looking at his ring in the right light would open all of the secrets of the universe.


	7. Chapter 7

Virgil, Patton, and Logan were back in their hotel room, Logan refusing to leave the hotel without some sort of plan in place.

Dr. Sundry informed them that she was willing to pay the cost of the extra room for as long as she was staying in Orlando for he conference, which meant that they only had three more days to find Roman and fix this.

Not to mention figure out what 'this' was in the first place.

Logan attempted to call Thomas again, with no response from the party in question. Virgil shifted uneasily from his perch at the end of his bed. Why wasn't Thomas answering his phone? Was it possible that he couldn't answer?

 _"Hello!"_ Virgil and Logan turned to Patton upon hearing his voice, both of their eyes widening as they saw that he was holding the hotel room's phone in his hand.

 _"...who is this?"_ Was that Joan? Were they on speaker phone? What was Patton doing? Either way, Joan was in a better position to get a hold of Thomas, so there was a small chance that this _might_ not be a disaster.

Logan immediately ran over to Patton and snatched the receiver from his hand. _"Hello, Joan is it? We are...prior associates of Thomas and were having difficulty reaching him at his number. Do you know why this might be the case?"_

There was a pause at the other end. _"I haven't been able to reach him since around noon yesterday. It's strange, he just stopped replying to my texts..."_

Virgil's stomach lurched. 

_"Did...did you just say noon yesterday?"_ Logan asked.

 _"Yeah. Why?"_ Joan responded.

_"Do you think you could check on Thomas and get back to me? It's important, and he was supposed to get back with me earlier this morning. It is concerning that he has not."_

_"I can check. You want me to call back at this number or...?"_

_"Oh, the best number to reach me at is (555) 276-3837."_

Logan hung up the phone, closing his eyes and letting out a long sigh.

"Logan, noon yesterday is..."

_"Yes, Virgil, I know. Noon yesterday is when we were unceremoniously ejected from the Mind Palace. In light of this, the chances that these two occurrences are unrelated is...well, infinitesimal."_

The three set out from the hotel soon after this. They needed to set to work on finding Roman, even if they had little idea of where to start.

_"I appeared within a library and Patton appeared at an animal shelter. This suggests that we tend to appear in areas that appeal to our interests..." _Logan mused.__

__Virgil let out a snort._ _

___"Is there something that you would like to add, Virgil?"_ _ _

__"Yep. You and Patton might have appeared on areas that 'appealed to your interests' as you put it, but I don't remember ever expressing an interest in standing in busy traffic with a car racing toward me."_ _

__Patton's eyes widened. Logan merely frowned. _"Perhaps my hypothesis is not as sound as I originally thought."__ _

__"Ya think?"_ _

__Patton looked from Logan to Virgil and then back again. _"We could still try Logan's idea? I mean we don't know where else to start, maybe it is worth looking at Roman's interests and places he might enjoy going?"__ _

__"I suppose," muttered Virgil, still bitter that he'd apparently gotten the raw end of the deal._ _

___"Ooh you guys, what if we tried Disney World?"_ Patton grinned. _"I've always wanted to go to Disney World. For myself I mean, not through Thomas."__ _

___"There is one small problem with that, Patton,"_ Logan pointed out. _"It costs money to enter Disney World. We do not have money, nor do we have the means to get money."__ _

__"It costs money to get in just about anywhere. Let's face it, we're never going to find Roman." Virgil rubbed at his forehead with his hand, squeezing slightly. He knew that his pessimism was not helping the morale of the group in the least, but the others could hardly argue with him when he had a point._ _

___"That is a cognitive distortion, Virgil. You are jumping to a conclusion with a limited amount of information. It may be difficult to find Roman, yes, but it is not outright impossible,"_ Logan provided._ _

__Virgil sighed. He didn't want to bring Logan and Patton down with him, but he didn't have much else to add to the conversation. His eyes scanned the street, widening at once when he spotted a movie theater._ _

__"THEATER!" He blurted out, causing both Logan and Patton to jump._ _

___"Come again?"_ Logan observed Virgil with puzzlement evident on his features._ _

__"Theater. Roman loves acting, theater, all that crap. Are there any theaters we can check around here?"_ _

__Logan immediately referred to his phone, searching for theaters in the Orlando area. Once they narrowed movie theaters out, they noted that there were two of the sort of theater they were looking for within reasonable within a couple of miles from their current location._ _

__It was decided that the group would split up. Virgil and Patton would check out one theater while Logan headed in the opposite direction to scope out the other. Virgil and Patton could keep each other in check (Patton by being there to comfort Virgil in case he had an attack, and Virgil to steer Patton back on the path in the event that Patton found himself distracted from the goal at hand. Logan, on the other hand, could handle himself the best out of the trio._ _

__The group would meet up in the same location again by 5pm. Virgil and Patton were on their way to their theater when they oversaw a commotion in a nearby park to said theater. A small crowd gathered around one person, who appeared to be putting on a performance within the park. Patton immediately went running for the park without a word to Virgil._ _

__"Patton, wait up! We're supposed to be waiting for Roman, and besides, we don't have any money to give the perform...oh."_ _

__Once he got closer to the crowd, he realized why Patton went running. There was no mistaking the regal fashion that the man was wearing, the red sash across his outfit, or the rich, deep timbre with which he sang._ _


	8. Chapter 8

"Of course we'd find Princey singing in the park like some Disney movie. Why wouldn't we?" Virgil rolled his eyes as he muttered, though a hint of a smile ghosted across his face as well. 

The two stood amongst the crowd. Roman continued to sing for a couple of moments longer, the crowd erupting into cheers and applause at the end. There were even a couple of people who whistled a few feet away. Roman bowed several times, causing Virgil to roll his eyes once more. "Show off," he mumbled.

The crowd began to dissipate, though there were still a few people near the front who remained where they were and struck up conversations with Roman. 

Virgil stood to the side, grinding his teeth together. He and Patton had something important to discuss with Roman, they didn't have time to wait around for this. Yet he didn't want to interrupt either, which left him in the awkward position of leaning against a tree with his arms across his chest alongside Patton.

After what felt like an hour (but was in reality more like ten minutes), Roman glanced in their direction, his eyes widening slightly at the sight as he waved the audience members off.

_"Excuse me, I must be going. I can see that my brothers are waiting for me."_

Virgil groaned, bracing himself for the possibility that Roman's fan club would come to talk to Virgil and Patton as well, but fortunately they went on their way.

Roman, in the meantime, grinned and waved to Virgil and Patton. _"Well if it isn't Panic at the Everywhere and Sunshine!"_

_"Roman, we missed you so much! It feels like it's been forever..."_ Patton threw his arms around Roman's squeezing tightly.

"It was slightly more than 24 hours, Patton." It might have sounded as though Virgil was scolding Patton if anyone eavesdropped on their conversation, but the corners of Virgil's mouth turned upward nevertheless.

They'd found Roman! Now all they needed to do was find Logan, figure out what the deal was with the rings, and figure out how to get back to the Mind Palace.

"...we still have a long way to go, don't we?" Virgil muttered under his breath and sighed, blowing a puff of air at his bangs.

Speaking of rings, Virgil took a quick peek at Roman's finger. Nothing. What did that mean? He played with his own ring, twisting it around his finger as he contemplated his next movie.

_"Do you have a ring too?"_

...or Patton could just cut to the chase.

_"Oh, you guys have them too? I thought I was the only one! They're nice to look at though, aren't they? The purple goes nice with your hoodie, Virge."_

Virgil quirked an eyebrow. " Are you trying to butter me up? And if so, for what and why?"

Roman held up his hands in a mock defensive pose. _"It was merely a compliment, Drama King."_

"I'm the Drama King? Have you looked in a mirror lately?"

_"Boys!"_ Patton shouted, causing both Virgil and Roman to look in his direction. Patton actually looked somewhat nonplussed before he regained his composure and smiled at the results of his outburst. _"Oh good, that actually worked!"_

_"Anyway, WHAT were you saying about these rings?"_ Roman asked.

_"Oh, right! We all have these rings, you, me, Virgil, Logan.."_ Patton counted off on his fingers as he announced each name, as if he needed to count them off to make sure that he remembered everyone.

_"Wait, you found Logan as well? Why is he not here?"_

"Because I didn't know you'd be performing for a crowd in the middle of a park. I suggested we check local theaters. Logan went to check one and Patton and I went to check on the other. We didn't even make it before Patton went running toward the commotion in the park and here we are. Speaking of which," he eyed Patton, "don't do that again."

_"What?"_ Patton blinked.

"Don't run off like that again. It could have been dangerous. We were supposed to stick together."

_"Ah, lay off of him Doctor Gloom. If he hadn't come running you might not have found me here, and then where would you be?"_

"...I guess." He still didn't want Patton to go running off like that again. Not when they'd found the last missing piece of the puzzle. Now they could work on the important part - Getting back to the Mind Palace before something went really wrong.

Or, at least, more wrong than it already was.

_"Oh, Roman! Say your name!"_ Patton blurted out suddenly.

Roman eyed Patton confusedly, though nevertheless did as the other man asked. _"...Roman...?"_

Virgil snickered. "He means your other name, Princey. And not Princey either."

Comprehension dawned on Roman's face. _"Oh, you mean Creativity!"_

_"THERE!"_ Patton shouted, pointing. Virgil's gaze followed the direction of the point, as did Roman's. Roman held up his hand, studying the glowing red ring on his finger. _"I knew it! Look, Roman! Morality!"_ Patton's ring lit up as well.

Virgil sighed. So they were doing this again, were they? He supposed it was the best way to show Roman what was going on, but he didn't particularly like the way that they continued to fool around with the rings when they had little information about them. Who knew if what they were doing could be potentially dangerous? "Anxiety," Virgil added reluctantly, holding out his hand so that Roman could see that his ring was indeed glowing purple.

_"...that is incredible! It's like something out of a cartoon!"_ Roman observed, awestruck.

_"It is, isn't it?"_ Patton added in excitement.

Virgil sighed, running a hand through his hair and glancing back in the direction from which he and Patton came. "Maybe we should find Logan. Then we can work out the deal with these rings and how to get back to the Mind Palace."

_"Awww, but why do you want to go back to the Mind Palace right away? This is fun!"_

_"Roman's right, think of all the fun stuff we can do out here that we couldn't do in the Mind Palace? Like go to Disney World!"_

Virgil gaped at the other two. Roman's yearning for adventure he could understand, but Patton? Had he forgotten the conversation with Joan earlier? "It's dangerous..."

"Ah, you think everything is dangerous My Chem-"

"DON'T," Virgil leveled a glare at Roman. "I know you think I'm doing this just to be a spoilsport, but I'm not. This is serious. We don't know what happened to Thomas."

Patton fell silent, Roman looking at Virgil in confusion. _"...what do you mean we don't know what happened to Thomas?"_

"I mean exactly what I said. Logan and I have both tried calling Thomas several times with no answer. We finally got a hold of Joan, but Joan said the last time they heard from Thomas was around noon yesterday."

Roman's face went pale. _"Noon yesterday? But that's around the time when..."_

"Exactly. So, I don't mean to put a damper on your fun, but we need to figure out what's going on. We're not in the Mind Palace and no one has heard from Thomas since we left the Mind Palace. That could mean nothing, but it could also be really, really bad."

Astonishingly, neither of the brighter sides had any rebuttals to make - or if they did, they kept them to themselves.

There was a long silence that left Virgil feeling uncomfortable, until Roman finally broke it. _"Very well. I suppose we should reunite with Logan and determine our next plan of action? Just because we are working toward a specific goal does not mean that we cannot still make this an adventure! It will just be a different sort of adventure!"_

Virgil couldn't help but snort. Leave it to Roman to turn a potential disaster into an adventure.

Not that he was entirely wrong. It was already turning out to be an adventure, and Virgil had a feeling that this adventure was far from over.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, this one feels pretty dialogue heavy..but it opens the door for more plot points later on, so I hope it's still enjoyable enough?

_"It feels so good to be home!"_

_"...Patton, this is our hotel room, it is the very definition of not home."_

_"Come on Logan, it's the closest thing we've got to home right now!"_

The four Sides entered their hotel room. As this would be a separate night, it was easier to explain a fourth guest than it was the night before, when Patton turned up in the late evening. 

_"This hotel room is getting quite crowded. Two of us are going to have to share beds tonight."_ Logan observed, looking at the other three sides, who remained silent. _"Well let's not all jump at once."_

Virgil and Patton exchanged glances. Roman, on the other hand, merely looked puzzled. _"I don't get it. Why do we need to share beds in the first place?"_

 _"Simple math, Roman. There are two beds and one pull-out sofa. Where do you propose the fourth Side sleep if not in one of those three places, the floor?"_ Logan arched an eyebrow.

 _"No, they can sleep in this bed!"_ Roman pointed to a full-sized bed near the window that was definitely not there a few moments earlier.

"Uh..anyone else concerned by the bed that just appeared out of nowhere?" Virgil remarked.

 _"...I am not entirely sure what just occurred, but Virgil is correct, that bed was not in its present location when we first entered this room,"_ Logan added.

Roman chuckled. _"Of course it wasn't! I conjured it!"_

"Ah yes, that would explain...excuse me, you what now?"

_"I conjured it! I can conjure things, remember?"_

_"But that is when we reside within Thomas' Mind Palace and cannot interact with anyone other than ourselves, other Sides and Figments, and Thomas himself..."_ Logan had a bewildered expression on his face, and Virgil honestly couldn't blame him. He'd tried summoning items and it hadn't worked. 

_"Well it still works for me. See?"_ Roman waved his hand and summoned his sword.

 _"Whoa, what was that?"_ Patton blurted out suddenly.

 _"What was what, Patton?"_ Roman replied with a somewhat befuddled expression on his face.

_"Summon something again! And look closely at Roman, you guys!"_

Roman shrugged and conjured one of his notebooks.

That wasn't what caught Virgil's attention. Now that Patton told them to look closer, he'd spotted what he suspected Patton noticed in the first place. The moment Roman conjured the notebook, his ring lit up red in much the same fashion as it had earlier.

 _"Your ring...I don't believe it..."_ Logan muttered, awestruck.

Virgil looked down at his own ring. He held out his hand and tried summoning his eyeliner. Nothing happened. "While that's a neat trick, Princey, it doesn't work that way for the rest of us."

Roman looked affronted for some reason. Virgil didn't quite understand why, it wasn't as though Virgil insulted Roman's non-existent first-born by stating that he couldn't summon like Roman could. _"How would you know, Charlie Frown? Have you tried?"_

"...I literally just did."

_"Oh."_

_"Still,"_ Logan stated, the other three Sides turning their attention back to the logical Side. _"If Roman's ring lights up when he conjures items, that would suggest that we are each capable of something that would generate a similar effect in our rings."_

 _"Like what?"_ Patton asked, excitement evident in his tone.

"I have a feeling that we are supposed to work that out on our own."

Virgil rolled his eyes. "Of course. As if we don't have enough mysteries to solve already, now we have to figure out what our rings can do. This is just great." He ran a hand through his hair. He didn't want to bring the others down, but every time they thought they found an answer, more questions came along with it.

 _"What is it, Logan?"_ Roman suddenly broke the silence that ensued after Virgil's outburst. Virgil glanced over at Logan, who was eyeing Logan with a thoughtful expression.

_"You can conjure items..is there a limit to what items you can conjure?"_

Roman let out a sigh. _"There is, sadly. I made an attempt to conjure a car earlier..."_

"Why would you try to summon a _car_?! You don't even know how to drive!" Did Roman ever think before he did _anything_?

_"...and I was unsuccessful. The only items that I can conjure up are items that already existed within the Mind Palace, unfortunately."_

_"Unfortunately? Roman, that is great!"_

Roman blinked at Logan in confusion. _"How is that great, exactly? In the Mind Palace I could conjure anything my heart desired, so long as I was in the Imagination.."_

_"It is expected that there would be a limit to your ability out here, as we are no longer within Thomas' mind. It is in fact impressive that you are able to do this much. That said, if you are able to summon items from the Mind Palace, that could still provide us a great help. For one, you could summon your phone, and Patton's as well, so that we do not have to rely on only the two phones that we presently have with us."_

Roman shrugged and waved his hand, two phones appearing. He handed Patton's phone to the other Side and kept his for himself. _"Any other requests while I'm here?"_ Roman wiggled his fingers.

"Cell phone chargers, my eyeliner, and my headphones."

 _"Very well, emo nightmare."_ Roman waved his hand once more, and all of the items that Virgil requested appeared on the bed in front of him. Virgil immediately seized the eyeliner and fled to the bathroom.

While he realized that it was a bit rude to flee in the middle of a conversation, the fact that he hadn't been able to touch up his eyeliner all day was bugging him immensely, and now that he had an opportunity to fix it he wasn't planning on wasting any time. Looking over his reflection in the mirror, he saw that the ever present bags under his eyes were starting to show. He carefully applied more eyeliner until he was certain that the bags were covered and he was back to his usual dark and stormy aesthetic before capping the eyeliner and heading back out to the main hotel room.

It looked as though All Request Hour was finished by the time he rejoined the others, though Virgil could easily see that the other Sides made a few requests of their own. There was a small pile of clothing on each of the four beds (he suspected that Logan was responsible for that), Logan was currently typing on a laptop, Patton was clutching a stuffed animal..and Roman was scribbling like crazy into the notebook that he'd summoned earlier.

Virgil went over and plugged his headphones into his phone. He pulled his headphones over his ears and put on My Chemical Romance, closing his eyes. For the first time in the past two days, he almost felt calm - calm for him, at least. He was aware that his definition of calm probably differed from the average, but it was nice not to feel like he was on the edge of a panic attack for once. Which, of course, meant that this blissful reprieve would not last for very long. 

Virgil was first aware that something was up when he heard Logan's voice through his headphones. He immediately pulled his headphones back off and placed them around his neck, glancing over in the direction of Logan, who was holding his cell phone to his ear.

_"What do you mean Thomas is missing?!"_

..so much for not feeling as though he was on the edge of a panic attack.


	10. Chapter 10

The room remained eerily silent as Logan continued to converse with Joan. Even Roman and Patton watched Logan with bated breath, unsure what sort of outburst to expect next from the Logical Side. Logan stared at his laptop for a moment.  _"Yes, I believe I hear a knock at my door...I will call you back soon enough. Thank you for your assistance, Joan, and I hope that you are able to deduce where Thomas is soon."_  
  
Logan hung up his phone and set it down to the side. He glanced at the other three sides, his gaze lingering a bit too long for Virgil's liking. It almost felt as if Logan was looking them up and down, like he was surveying them for something. His gaze lingered the longest on Roman.  _"Yes? What is it, calculator watch? I realize I'm easy on the eyes but..."_  
  
Logan held up a hand and Roman huffed.  _"Well that's just rude!"_  
  
_"I need someone to pretend to be Thomas, and I believe that you are the most reasonable choice out of the four of us for this endeavor,"_  Logan explained.  
  
_"...why do we need someone to pretend to be Thomas?"_  
  
Virgil had a feeling that he knew where Logan was coming from, at least in the sense of having someone pretend to be Thomas. He knew because it was his job to consider the potential risks, and there were a  _lot_  of risks involved if Joan considered Thomas to be missing. "If Thomas is missing, truly  _missing_ , Joan might contact the police. The police'll start looking for Thomas. They might find  _us_. And...I dunno about you, but I dunno how we're going to explain  _us_  to the cops if they come knocking on our door questioning our relationship to Thomas."  
  
_"But I don't get it. Shouldn't we try to find Thomas instead? Wouldn't that solve everything?"_ Patton pointed out.  
  
_"It would. But I believe that I have already worked out Thomas' whereabouts."_  
  
"..excuse me, WHAT?! When did you figure this out, Logan? And when were you planning on telling us?" The questions came out more demanding that Virgil initially intended, but he wanted answers. He was supposed to  _protect_  Thomas, and he couldn't very well do that if he didn't even know where Thomas was!  
  
_"If my calculations are correct, and I'm nearly positive that they are..he is currently within this hotel room."_

"Where, exactly, could he be hiding in this hotel room? It's already plenty crowded with just the four of us. Way too cozy for my liking. I'd much rather be back in my room," he mumbled. It wasn't that he necessarily minded the others, but he liked his alone time. He liked having time to recharge, and that was really hard to do when he literally had to share one medium-sized hotel room with three others. When one had to split a hotel room with three others, even a medium-sized hotel room felt lacking in size.  
__  
_"I haven't seen him anywhere in here! Are you sure Logan?"_  Patton frowned, peering around the room. He glanced under one of the beds as if Thomas might be hiding under there. __  
  
_"Don't bother looking in the closet, Patton, he came out of there ages ago,"_  Roman remarked, to which Logan rolled his eyes. __"Also, if Thomas himself is in this room, why can't we just have him call up Joan and set everything straight?"__  
  
Patton returned from the bathroom. __"He's not in the shower either. I'm not sure what you're talking about Logan, it just looks to be the four of us in here!"__  
  
_"Exactly,"_  Logan responded. The other three looked back at him in confusion. __  
  
Then it hit Virgil. His eyes widened. "No. No way. You're not..."  
__  
Judging by the dumbfounded expression that found its way onto Roman's face soon afterward, Virgil could only assume that Roman arrived at the same conclusion that he did. __"That is what you're saying though, isn't it? The four of us..."__  
  
Logan nodded, his expression grave. __"Yes. I do believe that the reason that the four of us are presently outside of the Mind Palace and have the ability to interact with others outside of the Mind Palace is that we are taking Thomas' place in this world, so to speak."__  
  
Even Patton looked worried as he offered up another question. __"So until we work out how to get back into the Mind Palace and get everything back to normal...?"__    
  
"We'll be out here indefinitely." Virgil added, swallowing past the growing tightness within his throat. They weren't going to be able to rely on Thomas for help for this one. There was no finding Thomas. It was up to them to fix this.  
  
To say that Virgil had difficulty working under pressure was an understatement, and the stakes were incredibly high. They needed Thomas back, they needed to get back to the Mind Palace. They weren't meant to exist like this. They were parts of a whole, meant to influence Thomas from within but not literally take his place. 

  
But Virgil was also meant to protect Thomas, and that meant that he could not give up no matter how monumental the task. He just needed to catch his breath first. 

 _"Urgh...you're...having an anxiety attack, aren't you Virgil? I-Inhale for four seconds, hold for seven seconds, exhale for eight seconds, Virgil."_  Logan reminded him. Virgil closed his eyes, finding it easier to concentrate on the task at hand if he limited his exposure to external stimuli. It took several repetitions, but Virgil slowly found that he could breathe more naturally.   
  
He opened his eyes to see the other sides all staring at him. "Take a picture, it lasts longer."

The three other Sides remained silent, passing looks between one another. Virgil raised an eyebrow. What had he missed while he'd been freaking out?  
  
_"Virgil, I believe that I know what your ability is,"_  Logan said at last.  
  
...what?  
  
_"We were all panic with no disco,"_  Patton visibly shuddered.

_"Good one, Patton," _Roman remarked.__

____

____

_"While that is an unconventional way of putting it, I suppose it does sum up the point that I was trying to make succinctly enough. You, inadvertently I'm sure, passed your feelings on to us. Your ring was glowing at the time as well.."_

It was at that point that Virgil realized something. "Is that why you stuttered when you told me to inhale?" 

Logan nodded just as his phone began to go off again. _"I suppose that's Joan..are you ready, Roman?"_

_"I was born ready!"_

 


	11. Chapter 11

The conversation with Joan went better than Virgil thought it would. There were a few moments when Roman hammed it up too much, Virgil holding his breath and keeping his fingers crossed on the sidelines, but in the end Joan seemed to buy Roman and Logan's explanation.   
  
Then again, who  _else_  would Joan think Roman was? He was undoubtedly the Side that looked the most like Thomas aesthetic-wise, and it probably just looked like Thomas was preparing for a performance. Roman seemed utterly pleased with himself, assuring the others that he had it under control all along. Virgil decided to take pity on him. He of all Sides  _knew_  that Roman hadn't had nearly as good a time of it as he wanted to portray, but if that was the impression that he wanted to give to the others Virgil wasn't going to interfere with that. They were in need of a morale boost, after all.  
  
The Sides went to bed - or tried to, at least. Virgil  _thought_  all three of the other Sides were asleep, but then he spotted a figure obscured by shadow making his way toward the door.   
  
One of the other Sides was awake, and Virgil wanted to see which one it was. Virgil pushed himself out of bed and crept up behind the other Side. When said Side opened the door, Virgil was able to get a good glimpse of them in the light for the first time.  
  
"Logan?"  
  
Logan jumped, holding his hand to his chest.  _"Virgil!"_  he hissed.  
  
Virgil couldn't help but snicker, though he was careful to cover his mouth so that he did not disturb the two sleepyheads. "Looks like I can freak you out both with and without my ring," he whispered with a grin.  
  
Logan rolled his eyes.  _"I was not 'freaked out' as you put it, I was merely startled by your sudden appearance."_  
  
"Wow,  _big_  difference."  
  
Virgil and Logan both stepped into the hall. Virgil slipped a hand into the pocket of his jeans to make certain that he had his key card for the hotel room before he closed the door behind them. The two walked in silence, until Virgil decided to break it at last. "So, what're you coming out here for anyway?"  
  
Logan shrugged.  _"I just needed some time to myself."_  
  
Oh. Virgil went to turn around, but Logan caught him by the arm.  _"You may stay. I do not mind your company, I just wanted an environment that was a little less hectic."_  
  
"Because Patton and Roman aren't exactly known for their calm?"  
  
 _"Exactly."_  
  
"..I don't suppose I need to point out that Patton and Roman are usually at their quietest when they're  _sleeping_?"   
  
 _"Yes, this is true, but there are still within the room, and any activities that I might pursue within the room while they are asleep might wake them up. You glimpsed me walking to the door, so clearly any activity I undertake within our hotel room carries with it a certain risk of disturbing the others within the room,"_  Logan explained.  
  
"You didn't bother me, I was already awake, but I get what you're saying. What kind of activity were you planning on doing out here?" Virgil wondered out loud out of curiosity.  
  
 _"Ah, it's...actually an old past time of mine, although I imagine the experience will be far different out here than it is within the Mind Palace. See, I have spent many late nights stargazing within the Mind Palace. It's quite a relaxing activity, and sometimes helps me go to sleep at night in the case that I am still feel overstimulated from one of my many projects."_  
  
"Yeah, I'd imagine it would be a different experience. We and Thomas create the sky in the Mind Palace. This sky is outside of our control." A shiver went through Virgil.  
  
Logan frowned.  _"Are you..you may return back to the room if you wish."_  
  
"Why would I..." Virgil paused, considered what he'd just uttered, then immediately went to backtrack, "yeah I know I don't always do good with things that are outside of my control, but I'm okay with this Lo. It's..fascinating." He nevertheless appreciated that Logan took the time to consider this.  
  
He did find space and the stars interesting. Perhaps not as much as Logan, as part of his purpose was thirst for knowledge, but the mystery of what might be up there and what might be  _possible_ was indeed intriguing. He would never in a million years volunteer to go to space, ever cognizant of the many ways that  _that_  could go wrong, but there was little risk of harm in looking up at the night sky. No oxygen leaks, no explosions, no getting ejected into space...  
  
...probably best to steer away from that train of thought.

Virgil and Logan stepped outside.  _"The light pollution and lack of a telescope may make it difficult to see certain objects, but it should still make for a nice view."_  
  
The two Sides made their way to the back of the hotel where there were not as many lights to cloud their view of the sky. The moon was a waxing crescent, reflecting just enough light for the sliver to be visible but not so much that the moon overpowered the stars.   
  
 _"There is Ursa Major and its smaller cousin, Ursa Minor. More readily identified by the unskilled observer are two asterisms that appear within the aforementioned constellations, the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper."_  Logan explained. Virgil was actually grateful for the explanation, because it was a lot easier to spot the Big Dipper and Little Dipper in the sky than it was to spot vague shapes that were supposed to be bears.  
  
He listened as Logan explained a few more constellations. He was particularly interested in the stories behind them. It was strange to think that men and women millenia in the past looked up at a relatively similar sky, spotted shapes in the stars in the sky, and assigned stories to them.  
  
Most of all, he could not help but feel drawn in by Logan's enthusiasm. Logan was known for his stoic nature, but he spoke of the stars with the same sort of passion that Roman used when discussing theater. Logan was truly in his element. He was like a star in the midnight sky, and Virgil was like a planet pulled in by gravity.  
  
He decided that he could get used to being in this particular orbit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the second time I've written an Analogical stargazing scene in my fics...oops


	12. Chapter 12

Virgil and Logan managed to sneak back to their hotel room without disturbing Roman and Patton from their slumber. Virgil removed his hoodie and slipped back under the covers, closing his eyes.

The next morning came fast, though Virgil was grateful to have at least gotten some sleep the night before. Apparently the late night stargazing trip with Logan helped to calm his mind enough that he could rest.  
  
_"Rise and shine kiddos, unless you don't want breakfast!"_  As content as Virgil would have been to remain in bed, Patton's reminder about breakfast was enough to bring Virgil up to a seated position within his bed. Breakfast was one of the few meals that they were guaranteed, and he wasn't going to turn that down.   
  
Virgil unplugged his phone from the charger he'd asked Roman to summon the night before, went to the bathroom to quickly retouch his eyeliner, then headed back out to meet the others - only to be surprised with the sight of food already within the hotel room.  
  
_"Roman and I figured that instead of going down to breakfast, we'd bring the breakfast to us!"_ Patton smiled, then quickly glanced to Logan, who had a similarly bemused expression on his face as Virgil did. It looked like Virgil and Logan weren't the only one who went off on trips by themselves.  
  
"Was the hotel okay with this?"  
  
Roman shrugged.  _"They know there are four of us in this room and that only two of us went down. Who would they be to tell us that we can't go down to the breakfast and grab food for our brothers who are still sleeping?"_  
  
"So that's what we've all agreed on then? Brothers?" Virgil inquired.  
  
_"What do you mean Virge?"_  Patton looked at him in confusion.  _"You're my dark strange son!"_  
  
Logan shook his head.  _"You may refer to Virgil as that, but I believe what Virgil is referring to is the relationship we are describing to others when they ask. We cannot continue referring to each other as Sides in front of anyone from outside of the Mind Palace, and thus Virgil and I have been referring to each other as brothers. It appears Roman had a similar thought."_  
  
Roman shrugged.  _"I didn't have time to think of anything else."_  
  
"I mean, we have similar appearances and the same last name. We can't just go around telling people we're  _Sides_ , so what else are we supposed to go with?" Well, they  _could_  tell others that they were Sides, but that could cause more trouble than it was worth. They were already dealing with enough trouble as it was.  
  
_"I believe that it is time for us to decide what our agenda will be for the day,"_  Logan remarked. Ever the taskmaster, though Virgil supported his efforts. The sooner they got back on track, the sooner they fixed everything and got things back to normal.

 _"Where did I put my laptop?"_  Logan muttered, glancing around.   
  
Roman chuckled.  _"Oh, this old thing? I was playing around with it this morning."_  
  
_"..could you not have just summoned your own?"_  
  
_"Why bother when I can just use yours?"_  
  
_"Ugh. Just...pass it over, Roman."_  
  
Roman smirked.  _"Alright, if you insist."_  
  
Virgil didn't understand why Roman was smirking, but as with anything when it came to Roman, he became aware of it soon enough.  
  
_"Go long!"_  Roman shouted before tossing the laptop in Logan's direction...in Logan's direction, because his aim was slightly off, and Logan's laptop was on a collision course with the wall. Though Virgil was startled by this display, it was nothing compared to what happened next.  
  
_"ROMAN!"_  Logan yelled, reaching out for his laptop. He missed catching the device, but something else decidedly  _cooler_  happened. The laptop stopped just shy of the wall, literally floating in midair for several seconds. It then flew backward, gently landing within Logan's outstretched hands. Logan nearly dropped the laptop in his surprise.  
  
"Whoa," Virgil blurted out, unable to come up with anything more intelligible.   
  
_"Oooh, neat power Logan!"_  Patton cheered.  
  
Logan slowly set the laptop onto his bed in front of him. He straightened his tie, cleared his throat..and shot a glare in Roman's direction.  _"What was THAT for?"_  
  
_"You told me to pass it! So I figured I'd throw it like a football! It was just supposed to land on your bed!"_  Roman defended himself at once.  
  
Logan rolled his eyes.  _"Thomas is terrible at sports; therefore, it stands to reason that we, collectively, are also terribly at sports and anything sports related. Why would you attempt to throw a heavy electronic device across the room and not expect it to go terribly wrong?"_  
  
"Since when has Roman thought about doing  _anything_  before he does it?" Virgil remarked with a smirk of his own.  
  
_"Excuse me, My Chemically Imbalanced Romance. Just because it's true doesn't mean that you have to say it."_  
  
Virgil let out a snort. He heard the unmistakable sound of furious typing coming from the direction of Logan's bed, and Virgil glanced over to see what the logical Side was doing. Noting the others' eyes on him, Logan looked up from his task and at the others.  _"I am setting to work on an itinerary for the day."_  
  
Roman let out a scoff.  _"An itinerary? Why on Earth do we need an itinerary? I say we just go where the wind takes us!"_  
  
Virgil arched an eyebrow. "Slow down, Princey. This isn't the Wizard of Oz."  
  
_"No, it's Inside Out!"_  Patton proclaimed. The other three glanced over at him at this sudden outburst.  _"We were on the Inside, now we're on the Outside. We are literally Inside Out!"_  
  
Virgil let out a reluctant laugh. He appreciated the play on words, but it was a distinct reminder of the bizarre situation that they were actually in. Really, the adventure that the four of them were on was much more worthy of the title of Inside Out than the movie itself was, if one looked at the words  _literally_.  
  
Virgil pulled his legs up to his chest and curled his arms around his legs, resting his chin atop his knees as he watched Logan work and Roman continue to complain.  
  
_"We do not need an agenda."_  
  
_"We need some sort of structure to determine that we stay on task. We continue to get distracted, and we are running on limited time. We only have two days left in this hotel room, and that is only because of the overwhelming generosity of a doctor that Virgil made acquaintance with early on. I am not foolish enough to believe that we will be so lucky again!"_  
  
_"Virgil and Patton found me because Patton strayed away from the agenda! You three were supposed to be looking at theaters, but Patton noticed a crowd in a park and found me performing! Therefore, the agenda is worthless!"_  
  
Roman and Logan continued to argue, Virgil sighing and raising his hands up to cover his ears. This successfully muffled the commotion, though did not rid himself of it entirely. "Guys guys, why not BOTH?" He cried out.  
  
Silence. Virgil slowly removed his hands from his ears to see Logan and Roman staring at him.  _"I..suppose there is merit to that. I could still work on an agenda, but it could be a guideline rather than a strict itinerary that we have to follow?"_  Logan suggested.  
  
_"And I suppose we could try to follow some of your suggested itinerary and see where that leads us,"_  Roman muttered.  
  
Patton smiled.  _"Awww, this truly is the..."_  His innocent smile suddenly morphed into a mischievous grin.  _"..beeeeeeeest of both worlds!"_  he sung out. Roman immediately joined him.  
  
Virgil and Logan exchanged glances before rolling their eyes and covering their ears.

One question did remain in Virgil's mind, though. They'd seen Roman's ability in motion, as well as Virgil's and Logan's. What was Patton's? And what would it take to draw it out?


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote the discussion about cartoons before I knew Cartoon Therapy was coming out, so..hey, bonus that this comes out on the same day as Cartoon Therapy?

It wasn't long before another argument arose concerning the schedule. Everyone had different ideas, and trying to combine those ideas into one cohesive plan was proving to be incredibly difficult. It didn't help that in some cases, one Side stood diametrically opposed to another.  
  
Roman wanted to split up. Virgil thought it would be less dangerous to stick together. Patton wanted to go to Disneyland to boost morale. Logan wanted to stick to the schedule and prioritize efficiency above all else, and there was no room for a trip to Disneyland in that schedule. Besides, where would they even get the money?

 _"Roman can conjure money!"_  Patton proclaimed in protest.  
  
_"That may be the case, but I do not feel that we should abuse Roman's ability for that purpose. I am not saying that I am against the use of conjuring money if we need it, but we do not need to take a trip to Disney World. We need to fix this."_  Logan responded sternly.  
  
In the end, they spent much of the day within the library, though they did do some walking around the area. Virgil got his wish to stick together, something that made him considerably more relaxed. It was one thing to go on short excursions like the ones at the hotel. It was another entirely to go on separate missions around the city.  
  
They were on one such excursion through the part when they got into a discussion about old cartoons.  
  
_"I was surprised to find that the new Duck Tales is quite good. Not that it will ever take the place of the original, which holds a special place in all of our hearts, but it is a respectable series in it's own right."_  Roman announced.   
  
Logan shot him a skeptical look.  _"Are you really about to wax poetic about Duck Tales?"_  
  
"Darkwing Duck is the superior of the Disney Duck shows," Virgil remarked, predictably earning a gasp from Roman at the mere suggestion.  
  
_"That is blasphemy! Not to insult Darkwing Duck, I enjoyed it as well, but Duck Tales will always win, hands down!"_  
  
And with that Roman began to loudly and vibrantly sing the Duck Tales theme. Patton grinned excitedly and opened his mouth, only to immediately close it upon receiving a glare from Logan.  _"Don't you start."_  
  
If Virgil weren't so nervous about singing in front of the others he'd counter Roman's singing with the Darkwing Duck theme. He wasn't hating on Duck Tales, but Duck Tales was such a...well,  _Roman_  show. Darkwing Duck, on the other hand, did not shy away from getting gritty (by the standards of a 90s animated series, at least). Virgil began to search on his phone for the Darkwing Duck theme.  
  
Meanwhile, Patton and Logan were continuing the conversation.  _"I was always a big fan of Winnie the Pooh! Such a sweet and lovely series."_  Patton sighed wistfully.  
  
Logan, on the other hand, sighed.  _"Well I suppose if I had to choose an animated program that was on TV within the early to mid 1990s I would have to choose Captain Planet."_  
  
_"Oooh, good choice. Such a catchy theme!"_  Patton remarked.  
  
_"Yes, but more than the theme, Captain Planet explored important issues. It might have, in retrospect, come off as more than a little cheesy, but it was nevertheless educational and the youth of today would do well if a show like this were to re-emerge."_  
  
Virgil rolled his eyes, though a slight smile spread across his face. Leave it to Logan to turn even a discussion about cartoons nerdy. His finger slid over the screen of his phone, the ring on his finger glinting in the sun...  
  
Virgil froze at once, his eyes widening as he continuing to stare at the small piece of jewelry on his hand.  
  
Patton was the first to notice that Virgil was no longer walking with them.  _"Virgil, kiddo, are you okay?"_    
  
Patton's question drew Logan and Roman's attention as well. The three doubled back, by which time Virgil was able to shake himself out of his self induced stupor.  
  
"Our rings," he said at last.  
  
_"What about them?"_  Roman blinked in utter confusion.  
  
"We each have rings. Rings that light up when we say our roles."  
  
Logan's eyes widened, as Virgil expected. Of course Logan would get it first.  _"Like Captain Planet."_

 _"The Planeteers assembled their rings together to call upon Captain Planer at their time of need. A group coming together to result in the formation of a single person"_ Roman added. __  
  
_"Just like us,"_  Patton finished.

Logan frowned.  _"While on one hand it seems patently absurd..."_  
  
_"Don't you mean Patton-ly?"_  Patton interrupted, a grin on his face.  
  
_"No I do not,"_  Logan replied, not missing a beat as he continued.  _"The situation that we have found ourselves in is incredibly bizarre in the first place, I suppose we ought to give this right idea a try. We never have used our rings together at once, it has always been one to three of us. So let's testing this hypothesis..."_  
  
"Wait!" Virgil blurted out, holding out his hands to stop Logan.  
  
_"What's wrong, Virgil?"_  Patton glanced over at Virgil worriedly.   
  
"We need to do this where no one sees us. That way if it doesn't work we don't get any unnecessary questions." Honestly, he knew it was his job to scope out and point out the dangers, but sometimes he wondered if the others had any sense of self preservation whatsoever.  
  
_"Astute observation, Virgil,"_  Logan responded. The group did a bit more walking, eventually finding an abandoned area of the park. Virgil did a quick sweep of the area with his eyes, the nodded to Logan.  
  
Logan extended his ring.  _"Logic."_  
  
Then came Roman.  _"Creativity!"_  
  
Next, Patton.  _"Morality!"_  
  
That left Virgil. The other three's rings were glowing, but nothing else happened as of yet. Virgil glanced around once more, then slowly and cautiously extended his own hand. "Anxiety."  
  
Virgil's ring began to glow...but that wasn't the only thing that happened. Beams of light in the color of their rings shot outward, meeting in one spot, a spot that gradually began to grow more human in shape...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of you already figured it out before this chapter but...yep, here's the confirmation of your suspicions. =P


	14. Chapter 14

Virgil watched in wide-eyed astonishment as the four beams of light met at a single point to form the shape of a person. The light grew brighter, and Virgil braced himself for what would happen next.  
  
Only...nothing did. Despite all signs to the contrary, using their rings together did not summon Thomas back, and did not bring them back to the Mind Palace.   
  
 _"I don't get it. It looked as if it was going to work..."_  Roman frowned, saying aloud what all of them were undoubtedly thinking.  
  
 _"Something certainly happened. We must still be missing a vital piece of the equation,"_  Logan pondered. Virgil peered down at his ring. Clearly the rings were a vital piece of the equation, so why wasn't it working?

It didn't only  _look_  like it was going to work. The tingling that he always felt in his finger when the ring glowed spread through his entire being when they attempted...whatever it was they just attempted. Virgil wasn't entirely sure what to call it.  
  
 _"So what do we do now, Albert Finestein?"_    
  
Logan arched an eyebrow at Roman's newest nickname for him.  _"...Finestein? That was the best you could come up with?"_  
  
Roman huffed.  _"Its not my fault you lack an appreciation for talent!"_

 _"Did anyone else feel all tingly when we used our rings?"_  Patton inquired, interrupting the minor disagreement between the logical Side and creative Side.  
  
"I did too, Pat." Virgil was relieved that Patton was getting them back on task, whether it was intentional on the moral Side's part or not.  
  
 _"I too felt an odd sensation,"_  Roman added.  
  
 _"As did I,"_  finished Logan.  _"It is clear to me that this means something, and I do still believe that we are on the right track."_  
  
 _"Well if we're on the right track why didn't it work?"_  Roman grumbled.  
  
 _"I'm not entirely sure, it appears that we are missing something, however."_  Logan frowned, looking highly annoyed. Virgil knew Logan well enough, though, to realize that this annoyance was directed toward Logan himself. As the logical Side, he was supposed to be the one to solve these issues, and thus any oversight on his part happened to get to him.  
  
 _"Somebody!"_  Patton shouted, causing Virgil to jump and Logan to glance over at the moral Side in confusion.  
  
 _"...once told me the world is gonna roll me!"_  Roman interrupted the brief pause after Patton's outburst.

 _"I ain't the sharpest tool in the sheeeed!"_  Patton continued before letting out a chuckle and waving his hand.  _"Great song, but not what I was trying to say! We're not missing something..."_  
  
 _"We're missing somebody. The four of us are not the only Sides within Thomas. Oh, such a foolish oversight on my part!"_  Logan hit his forehead with his hand in frustration.   
  
 _"And you say I'm overly dramatic?"_  Roman remarked with a grin.  
  
"Wait. We're not talking about who I think we're talking about, are we?" Virgil groaned, already expecting the answer that he did  _not_  want to hear.

 _"I'm afraid so, Virgil. If we want this...ritual to work, I believe that we will need to find and recruit Deceit,"_  Logan responded.  
  
"So...we're screwed then, is basically what you're saying," Virgil sighed. He'd dared to get his hopes up that things would go back to something resembling normal, but of  _course_  they were missing someone important, and of  _course_  that someone was the man who tried to betray their trust and impersonate his  _best friend_.

_"Awww Virgil, we're not screwed, this just means that we have to find Deceit..."_  Patton's attempt to comfort Virgil resulted in a loud snort from the Side in question.

"I'm sure it'll be that easy. We also have to convince him to join rings with us, which is gonna be a lot harder because I'm sure he'll refuse just to screw with us and..." Virgil now had his hands on the side of his head, gripping his hair tightly.

_"Virgil, please,"_  Patton pleaded, and Virgil turned to look at him.

"What? You know it's true. You know this makes things a lot more complicated. We don't even know where Deceit is. We don't even know where to start looking. We only have a limited amount of time in out hotel room before our time runs out and then what, we live on the street? What happens when Thomas' friends and family realize he's not Thomas?" 

It wasn't until Virgil was done ranting that he noticed how out of breath he was. He painted, glancing around at the others, who were oddly silent. He glared. "What?"

_"We...we know Virgil. We know because you know. Your...your ring..."_  Patton raised a trembling hand (trembling? Why was Patton's hand trembling?) and pointed in the direction of Virgil's hand. Virgil huffed and glanced down at his hand.

His ring was glowing bright purple.

Roman was almost frantically picking at his nails. Logan had his eyes closed and was muttering something under his breath. Patton was pale and shaking so hard that he looked as though he'd seen a ghost.

Virgil closed his eyes. Inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 7 seconds, exhale for 8 seconds. He repeated this a few more times before he felt that he had enough control over himself to shut off the influence of the ring on the other Sides. This did not mean that he was totally out of the woods, but it was a start.

By the time he reached that level of control over his own racing thoughts, he opened his eyes to find the other three standing several feet away, whispering and occasionally glancing over at him.

A fresh wave of worry crept over him. Were they talking about him? Fortunately, before Virgil could fall into another spiral, Roman spotted Virgil looking in their direction and waved him over.

_"We were just discussing potential strategies for locating Deceit,"_  Logan explained once Virgil was close enough.

They were discussing Deceit, not talking about Virgil. Good. Virgil could breathe a little easier.

 

Only a little, though, because now they had to figure out how to find Deceit..and they had a limited time frame in which to do so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of you called this as well. =P Probably because you saw the fanart I commissioned from prettyinaccurate on tumblr (in fact, I know some of you did because you called it out by name, lol)


	15. Chapter 15

It was back to the drawing board, and for that they had to go back to their hotel room.

"With the exception of..well, me, we all manifested in areas that interested us or represented us in some way. Patton manifested at an animal adoption fair, you manifested in a library, and Roman manifested in a theater. Actually, when I put it that way, I fit that bill too. I might not like nearly being run over by a car, but I represent fight or flight. What better way to represent fight or flight than a near accident?" The corners of Virgil's mouth twitched upward in spite of himself. It certainly got his blood pumping, to the say the least.  
  
 _"So we have to look for a place where a lying snake would feel right at home,"_  Roman stroked his chin.  
  
 _"The mayor's office?"_  Patton suggested with an innocent smile. Too innocent, if one asked Virgil.  
  
 _"The mayor's office? Why would that..oh, lying snake. Politicians have a reputation for being lying snakes,"_  Logan responded, working out what Patton was trying to say as he spoke.

_"Y'know, I'm surprised we haven't heard of Deceit's exploits sooner,"_  Roman remarked.  _"You'd think a guy like him would stand out, what with the snake face and all."_  
  
Virgil froze, his eyes doing a quick sweep of the others. Patton looked confused, but Logan...Logan worked it out too, Virgil was positive. The two made eye contact, and Virgil grit his teeth together.  
  
Roman was correct. Deceit  _would_  stand out in the world looking as he did within the Mind Palace. But they all exited the Mind Palace with these rings, and with these rings came abilities that were at least tangentially related to their 'roles'. Virgil and Logan watched the news on their first day back. The story of a man with a half-snake face suddenly  _appearing_  somewhere would doubtlessly draw headlines.  
  
But there was nothing, and Virgil had his suspicions as to why. Suspicions that he could only assume Logan shared, based on the logical Side's own reaction.  
  
 _"You are correct, Roman, he would stand out..if he still had the snake face,"_  Logan said at last, thereby confirming that he and Virgil were indeed on the same page.  
  
 _"If? What do you mean if? It's a part of his face, he can't just get rid of it!"_  Patton protested.  
  
The other three fell silent, exchanging glances. The incident stood out in their minds because they were  _there_. Patton only came in for the end of it. It thereby stood to reason that it wouldn't be the first thing that Patton thought of, unlike the other three.  
  
 _"He has though, padre,"_  Roman explained in an uncharacteristically gentle voice.   
  
"When he imitated  _you_ ," Virgil went on further.   
  
Patton blanched.  _"Oh..right. He did do that didn't he?"_  The moral Side murmured.  
  
 _"I suspect that the reason we have heard neither heads nor tails of Deceit 'out here', so to speak, is that he is able to disguise himself much as he could within the Mind Palace. That is likely his ability, much as I have telekinesis, Virgil can generate fear in others, and Roman can conjure items,"_  Logan commented.  
  
 _"We have yet to see Patton's ability though..could that, perhaps, be because Patton is not Patton at all?"_  Roman's accusatory gaze shifted to Patton once he finished speaking.  
  
Patton's eyes widened as he held up his hands in a defensive gesture.  _"No, no! I'm your happy pappy Patton, promise!"_  
  
"Princey, stop. His ring is light blue, and lit up when he said Morality. It's Patton," Virgil could not help the slight edge that entered his voice at this. He understood and respected the motive behind Roman's suspicion, but falsely accusing Patton was going to get them nowhere.   
  
 _"It's none of us,"_  Logan continued down the same train of thought.  _"All of our respective rings lit up when we said our functions as we attempted the ritual to right the situation. Wherever Deceit might be, he is not here."_  
  
Virgil let out a breath that he didn't realize he was holding. It outraged Virgil to hear Roman accusing his best friend of playing them. He'd been so reluctant to call Deceit out when he was legitimately attempting to play the part of Patton because he didn't want to run the risk of hurting Patton if he turned out to be wrong in his suspicions. And here Roman was calling Patton out willy-nilly when Patton was indeed  _Patton_?  
  
It made Virgil suspicious of  _Roman_. So when Logan correctly pointed out that the fact that  _all_  of their rings worked as expected earlier, it helped to clear the air considerably.  
  
"So we can trust each other, but no one else."  
  
 _"Boy, you went from 0 to 60 there Doctor Gloom,"_  Roman muttered.  
  
 _"His state may be a bit absolute for my liking, but he is not entirely wrong to think that way,"_ Logan said.  
  
 _"What is that supposed to mean?"_  Roman countered.  
  
 _"It means that Deceit could very well be much closer than we expect. He might have already overheard any one of our conversations, and that may allow him to hide from us indefinitely."_  
  
Well that was foreboding.  
  
Patton held up a hand as if he were a child in school waiting for the teacher to call out his name.  _"Patton, this is not a classroom. We are all adults here, you may speak at any time,"_  Logan told Patton as soon as he noticed what the moral Side was doing. How ironic, coming from the Side that they used to refer to as 'Teach'.  
  
 _"Even if he is hiding, isn't there one thing he can't hide from us?"_  Patton looked from Logan to Virgil to Roman.  
  
"Pat, he can disguise himself as  _anyone_ , and as far as looks are concerned he can do it perfectly. It was his actions that gave away that he wasn't you when he disguised himself as you, Pat, not anything about his looks," Virgil appreciated Patton's efforts to cheer them up, but wasn't so certain that looking on the bright side would work this time.  
  
 _"Patton's right,"_  Roman said suddenly, a grin slowly creeping across his face.  _"He may be able to copy someone else's appearance, but that is an ability. Three out of four of us have manifested abilities as well."_  
  
Logan's eyes widened.  _"The one thing that stands out about when we use our ability is our rings."_  
  
"Deceit has to have his ring in order to disguise himself as someone else in the first place!" Virgil gasped.   
  
He still had misgivings. He still knew that this was going to be a massive undertaking, especially when they had no idea where to even begin  _looking_  for who Deceit may have disguised himself as. There were surely hundreds if not thousands of people within the area wearing rings, and any one of them might be Deceit. It didn't help that each of their rings had its own unique style, and thus there was no singular style to keep an eye out for in a crowd.  
  
 _"In order for Deceit to properly pull it off without being detected, though, he would have to play the part of someone he knows fairly well. We know that the four of us are our proper selves. That does not leave many options, unless he is bouncing from identity to identity?"_  Roman pointed out, looking troubled.  
  
A buzz from Logan's phone interrupted them from their reverie.  _"It's Joan,"_  Logan informed the others.  _"He wished to inform me that...Thomas' flight has landed safely, and he is now back at home?"_  
  
The four of them peered at one another, then back at the phone, horror slowly creeping in. The four of them were still in their hotel room. That only left one possible explanation for the text that Joan sent, given the information that they already had...  
  
Looked like they needed to get to Thomas' house, pronto. But..how?


	16. Chapter 16

"Thank you for doing this favor for us, Dr. Sundry. I...I'm not sure how we can repay you for everything," Virgil told the helpful doctor. The five of them were piled into Dr. Sundry's rental car, Patton in the front seat with Dr. Sundry and Virgil, Roman, and Logan crammed into the back. Virgil had one of the window seats, as sitting in the center could potentially trigger his claustrophobia. Roman helpfully took the center, with Logan at the other end of the backseat.  
  
 _"We really do appreciate it, Doctor,"_  Logan confirmed.  
  
 _"It's not a problem. You four looked as though you could really use the help, and it's not that far out of my way,"_  Dr. Sundry responded, continuing down the busy road yet still taking the time to converse with her four passengers.  
  
 _"In one mile, turn left,"_  the GPS on the doctor's phone cut through the conversation. Dr. Sundry merged into the left turn lane and turned on her left turn signal.  
  
Virgil leaned back in his seat and glanced out the window, allowing his mind to wander. Joan said that Thomas was  _back_ , which was impossible unless Virgil, Patton, Roman, and Logan were back within the Mind Palace. A Thomas without the four of their influences would be a very different Thomas. However, they could not call Thomas back unless they retrieved all of the pieces of the puzzle, and they were missing an important piece. Little though Virgil wanted to admit it.  
  
He  _wished_  they could leave Deceit behind, but logic - the concept itself, not the personification of the concept, who was currently complaining loudly about Roman's insistence on singing show tunes in his ear - told him that they needed  _all_  of Sides to bring things back to normal, and that unfortunately meant that they would have to hunt down Deceit and bring him back.  
  
They had their work cut out for them. If Deceit was indeed impersonating Thomas, as Virgil and the others suspected he was, that suggested that Deceit did not  _want_  to go back. They needed to either convince him to join them, or somehow  _force_  Deceit's hand. Either way, it wasn't going to be an easy task, especially with less than two days to go before Dr. Sundry had to return to California and her charity ran out.  
  
(It was, of course, possible that Dr. Sundry would continue to help them out past that point if they asked nicely, but Virgil didn't  _want_  to do that, and neither did any of the others. None of them felt particularly  _great_  about being unable to pay Dr. Sundry back for all that she'd done for them, but there was little they could do at this point in time. Now, when they got Thomas back, they could tell  _him_  the situation, and he could hopefully repay Dr. Sundry for all that she'd done, but they weren't anywhere near that stage yet - and might not be if they didn't move fast.)

 _"You alright there Virgil?"_  Patton's voice interrupted his reverie, and Virgil glanced forward at Patton, who shot him a small smile.  _"I'm here if you need to talk, kiddo."_  
  
"I'm ok Pat, there's just a lot on my mind." Were they alone, Virgil might have actually confessed to Patton his worries concerning Deceit, but it wasn't something that he could bring up in present company. The four of them were limited in what they could say in front of Dr. Sundry.

Patton seemed to understand, though. He reached back and gave Virgil's knee a squeeze.  _"Everything'll work out fine in the end. It always does."_  
  
He appreciated Patton's words, but he'd never been one to be especially comforted by such statements. Not when it was in his very nature to consider every little thing that could go wrong and plan accordingly. It was easy to  _hope_  that everything would go well, but the outcome now relied on Deceit - and Deceit was not known for his dependability, in Virgil's experience.

 _"Well, here we are. Do you need me to pick you up and take you back to the hotel later?"_  Dr. Sundry asked as she put the car in park.  
  
The four of them exchanged glances. None of them could say for certain how this encounter with Deceit would go - or if they'd even encounter Deceit. It could be that everything would be fixed within a matter of an hour or two, or they might need to head back to the hotel to re-do their strategy if things didn't go well.  
  
 _"I think the best course of action would be to call you if we require any further assistance. It may be that we don't need to return to the hotel at all, depending on how our meeting with our associate goes."_  Logan explained.   
  
Dr. Sundry nodded.  _"I'll keep an eye out for a possible phone call then. I won't be available until after 7pm, but I can come any time after that."_  
  
 _"Thanks Dr. Sundry!"_  Patton smiled warmly.  
  
 _"You truly are our heroine,"_  Roman added.  
  
The four climbed out of the car and waved as Dr. Sundry drove back toward downtown Orlando for her conferences.

"Our heroine? Can you get any more cheesy, Romano?" Virgil smirked.  
  
 _"Good one, Virgil!"_  Patton beamed with pride at Virgil's pun.  
  
Logan let out a long sigh.  _"We are not far from Thomas'. Now that we are here..do we want to directly confront Deceit, or do we want to go about it more carefully?"_  
  
 _"I say we charge in and show Jekyll and Lied what's what!"_  Roman proclaimed.  
  
"That could backfire right back in our faces. We should get an idea of what we're dealing with first," Virgil rolled his eyes.   
  
 _"How do you feel, Patton?"_  Logan turned his focus to the paternal Side, Patton blinking at the attention suddenly being focused on him.  
  
 _"Oh, uh...whatever we decide is fine with me!"_  he smiled.   
  
Logan nodded.  _"Then its settled. We observe what Deceit might be doing, then we make our move when we have more information to act upon."_  
  
 _"When did we decide that?!"_  Roman protested.  _"Patton said he was fine with either option!"_  
  
 _"He did. I, however, am inclined to agree with Virgil. That leaves us with two votes for Virgil's suggestion, one vote for yours, and one non-commital vote. Virgil's suggestion won fair and square,"_  Logan explained in an even tone.  
  
Roman grumbled under his breath.  _"Ugh, fiiiiine. We'll do it your way."_


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well this wound up being shorter than usual, but it felt like a good place to cut it off so...

As it turned out, it would be difficult to put either idea into practice.

  
The quartet arrived at Thomas' home only to discover that he was not present.

"That means he's probably out with Thomas' friends, he's going to ruin  _everything_..." Virgil groaned.

_"We could try calling Joan up again?"_  Patton suggested.

_"A valid suggestion,"_  Logan responded, retrieving his phone.

"What if Deceit is with Joan? What if Deceit turns the situation around and turns Joan against us before we even have the chance to make our point?" Virgil pointed out.

_"Joan is Thomas' best friend, they should realize something is off about him,"_  Roman remarked.

"Like you two did with Patton?" Virgil arched an eyebrow. 

Roman looked somewhat sheepish at that.  _"He manipulated me! He knew exactly what I wanted to hear and told me that!"_

_"Of course he did, that is how Deceit operates. It is reasonable to assume that he might attempt something similar with Joan or another of Thomas' friends,"_  Logan let out a sigh.  _"We don't know what Deceit has told them already. We don't know that Deceit even realizes we are out here."_

"He has to realize Thomas is missing, though. Otherwise he wouldn't be able to impersonate him."

 

_"Do we actually know that Deceit is impersonating him? It could be that we actually called Thomas back when we did the thingy with the rings..."_  Patton said, though Virgil detected a hint of hesitation in the other Side's voice- like he was trying to convince himself and the others of what he was saying, rather than it being something he actually believed. 

_"Regardless, we are still outside of the Mind Palace. Whether the Thomas Joan reunited with is the actual Thomas or not, there is still a problem that needs a solution."_  Logan frowned.

 

_"Well we can't just stand here all day and night, we need to do something!"_  Roman complained.

_"Then we'll go to Thomas' home,"_  Logan said at last, setting off on a reasonable pace. The other three scrambled to keep up.  _"It shouldn't be far from here, I gave Dr. Sundry the address of a business close to Thomas' residence intentionally."_

The walk was quiet - Too quiet for Virgil's liking. Odd when one considered that Virgil usually preferred quiet, but this wasn't the sort of peaceful quiet that helped to soothe his always fraught nerves. This was an uneasy quiet. No one was talking because no one knew what to say. No one knew how this was going to go.

_"The moment of truth awaits us,"_  Roman announced as they rounded the corner onto Thomas' street.

_"That's rather ironically stated, considering we are hoping to encounter Deceit,"_  Logan said.

_"Yeeeeah but 'the moment of lies' doesn't really have the same ring to it,"_  Roman reasoned.

 

Now that they were so close to Thomas', Virgil felt his heart rate begin to increase. He glanced down at his ring to make sure that it was not glowing purple; that his worry was not impacting the others. 

It wasn't. Good.

The four crept closer, stopping on the sidewalk in front of Thomas' door.

Virgil swallowed, trying to keep his breathing steady. He didn't want to effect the others with this, not when someone  _needed_  to step up and do something.

Something like...stride up to the door?

What was Roman doing? Virgil started to hiss just that when Roman rapped loudly on the door. 

"I thought we weren't going to directly confront him," he hissed at Roman afterward, his trembling hands clenching into fists. Annoyance mixed with fear. 

_"Well how else do you expect to bring Deceit back, unicorns and butterflies?"_

"Ew no, that's your department. I just don't think it's..." Virgil stopped talking at once upon hearing the telltale sound of the door clicking open. He inhaled sharply, preparing himself for what he might see on the other side...


	18. Chapter 18

Virgil inhaled sharply, not knowing what to expect as the door swung open. He adjusted the ring on his hand, quickly glancing at it to make sure that he wasn't effecting the others.

On the other side of the door stood Joan.  
  
Virgil's heart practically jumped into his throat. How were they going to explain this to Joan? Especially now that "Thomas" was supposedly back. There was a part of Virgil that would have honestly preferred Deceit disguised as Thomas to this. He would at least have an idea of what to expect from Deceit disguised as Thomas.  
  
Joan, on the other hand...  
  
_"I...how did you get this address?"_  Joan sputtered, staring at the four of them. Virgil was honestly surprised that Joan hadn't slammed the door in their faces.  
  
_"We've...we've been in communication, actually,"_  Logan admitted. He pulled up the text messages that he'd exchanged with Joan and showed the phone to Joan. Joan squinted at the screen for a moment or so before handing the phone back to Logan.  
  
_"You said you were friends of Thomas', not that you were..."_  They gestured at the four of them.  _"I...honestly don't know what to say. Those are some of the best cosplays I've ever seen. If I didn't know any better I'd say you four were actually the real Sanders Sides."_  Joan chuckled.  _"Come in, Thomas is upstairs at the moment but he'll be down shortly."_  
  
The four of them stepped inside, peering around. Of course the entire room looked familiar - This was the room that most of the Sanders Sides episodes took place in. As far as Joan, Talyn, the Fanders...anyone other than Thomas was concerned, the series was entirely fictionalized. This was not so much the case. They all existed, though typically only Thomas could interact with them. Clearly, things were different now that there was no Thomas around, because they were all outside of the Mind Palace...  
  
But how could they explain that to Joan without blowing the whole thing sky high?   
  
_"Hey, what are your names anyway? You already know mine I assume, but you never told me yours!"_  
  
...and now they had to come up with fake names to disguise who they really were.   
  
_"Ben. It is a pleasure to meet you, Joan,"_  Logan introduced himself with a slight incline of his head.  
  
_"Christopher! I've heard so much about you, Joan, I'm so happy to finally meet you!"_  Patton beamed, holding out a hand for Joan to shake. When they met his hand, Patton gave it a few firm shakes.  
  
_"Careful P-Chris, you're going to rip his poor arm off!"_  Roman teased Patton. Patton let go of Joan's arm at once and grinned sheepishly.  _"The name is Phillip, and it is an honor to meet you, Joan."_    
  
That left Virgil to introduce himself...so to speak. He had to come up with a nickname off the fly? How was he... "Um...Gerard. Sup?"   
  
...Gerard? Did he really just introduce himself as  _Gerard_? Virgil would have put his head in his hands in embarrassment, but it would guarantee even more awkwardness, and that was something that he desperately wanted to avoid.   
  
Joan, meanwhile, was snickering.  _"The four of you aren't just dressed up; you guys are really getting into character! You even have the same name as Roman's favorite prince, Philip!"_  
  
Roman beamed.  _"My parents named me after Prince Phillip, actually."_  
  
_"The Queen of Britain's husband or the Disney character?"_  Logan smirked.   
  
Roman huffed.  _"The Disney character, of course."_  
  
Virgil folded his arms across his chest, making his way to a seat at the bottom of the stairs. The whole situation that they were in made him feel incredibly uncomfortable, so he ought to make it as 'normal' as possible. He felt the most at home in his usual spot at the bottom of the stairs. He folded his arms across his chest, curling in slightly on himself.  
  
_"Did Thomas say where he went while he was missing? We were worried about him!"_ Still were, of course, but Joan didn't need to know that. Or did they? They hadn't expected to encounter Joan so soon in their investigation. They were hoping to either confront Deceit or at least gather a bit more information before they made their move.  
  
_"Oh yes, he said that he was visiting a family member out of state and that he was sorry for not getting a hold of us sooner, but that he'd accidentally left his phone at home."_  Joan replied.  
  
_"That does sound like something he'd do,"_  Patton chuckled fondly.  
  
"Thomas isn't coming downstairs, is he Joan?" Virgil rose to his feet at once. The other four turned to face him in confusion.  
  
_"What...what do you mean?"_  Joan had a quizzical expression on his face.  
  
_"I must admit that I am confused as well..how did you come to that conclusion, Gerard?"_  Logan looked confused...though not doubtful. Good, he was not questioning  _what_  Virgil was saying, but rather  _why_  he was saying it.  
  
"Thomas isn't coming downstairs because Thomas hasn't returned," Virgil explained, causing the other three to exchange glances between one another before looking back at Virgil. He knew why they were doing this - He'd just outed the fact that Thomas hadn't returned, when Joan clearly wasn't aware of that tidbit of information.  
  
Of course, if Virgil's suspicions were correct...  
  
_"...what? I saw him, I hung out with him, he's back in town. I don't know what you're trying to say, but..."_  
  
"Princey's favorite Disney Prince is Prince Phillip."  
  
Roman and Patton were shooting him looks as if he'd lost his mind. Logan, on the other hand, had one arm across his chest while the other arm reached up to his chin where his hand was resting.  
  
_"What is your point, Gerard?"_  Roman rolled his eyes.  _"If you're making one, you better get on with it!"_  
  
_"Never, at any point, was it stated within a Sanders Sides video that Prince Phillip is Roman's favorite Disney Prince,"_  Logan explained. Virgil let out a sigh of relief. Logan  _understood_.  
  
Roman's eyes blew wide.  _"The only way that Joan would know that Roman's favorite Disney Prince was Prince Phillip..."_  
  
"...were if he had access to the Mind Palace." Virgil's eyes fell on 'Joan', whose face broke into a smirk.


	19. Chapter 19

"I knew it," Virgil narrowed his eyes at Joan.  
  
'Joan', in the meantime, held up his hands.  _"This is exactly what I meant to have happen,"_  he commented with an oh-so-familiar smirk on his face. Joan's flesh seemed to melt away in an instant, replaced by Deceit's form.  
  
 _"Surely you didn't,"_  Logan retorted with a roll of his eyes.  
  
"Let's cut the crap. We need to get things back to normal," Virgil interrupted. They didn't have  _time_  to have a conversation like this. They needed to bring Thomas back and restore themselves to the Mind Palace.   
  
 _"Oh? And just how do you propose we do that, raccoon-boy?"_  Deceit responded with an arch of his eyebrow on the side of his face that did not mimic that of a serpent.  
  
 _"Oh right, he doesn't know about the rings,"_  Patton pointed out.  
  
 _"He undoubtedly knows about at least one ring. He may be dishonest but he is not unintelligent,"_ Logan stated.  
  
 _"I have absolutely no idea what you are referring to,"_  Deceit held his hands together. His hands that were covered by the thick yellow gloves that he usually wore.  
  
 _"Right. Because you've proven yourself to be so trustworthy in the past,"_  Roman made an okay sign with his hand and winked.  
  
 _"Ah yes, you totally aren't getting into the spirit of it Roman,"_  Deceit smiled.   
  
 _"You're right, I'm not, because I'm not like...wait a second,"_  Roman froze in mid-sentence, his dumbfounded expression quickly morphing into a glare.   
  
 _"So anyway!"_  Patton forged forward, either because he was oblivious to the tension between the Deceit and the others, or because he was all  _too_  aware of it and wanted to put a stop to it. Either way it worked, because the other four Sides turned to face the moral Side simultaneously.  _"We all have these rings, and when we say our names...our original functional names, not like Patton, Virgil, Roman, Logan, and...I'm not sure if we ever got your name, Deceit?"_  
  
 _"It's Samantha."_  
  
 _"It's great to call you by your name for the first time, kiddo!"_  Patton exclaimed in delight.  
  
 _"Patton, he's...why do I even bother?"_  Logan sighed and threw his hands up into the air.  
  
Despite the gravity of the situation, Patton's response generated a slight smirk in Virgil.   
  
(...he also suspected that Patton's response might have been designed expressly for that purpose. If so, Virgil greatly appreciated the extra effort from his best friend.)  
  
 _"Anyway, our rings glow! See? Creativity!"_  Roman held the ruby red ring that rested atop his finger out for Deceit to see. As soon as the creative Side said the word 'Creativity', his ring immediately began to glow a bright red.  
  
 _"I'm not sure what you are referring to. I have never seen a ring like that,"_  Deceit shrugged.  _"Now, if you don't mind, I must speak to another of Thomas' friends about his disappearance..."_ the deceitful Side shook his head.  _"No need to let them worry themselves sick any longer than they have to."_  
  
 _"That's just it...we can fix this! All we have to do is use the r-"_  
  
Deceit cut off Patton at once.  _"As I already informed you all, I do not have a ring. I never have."_  
  
"Bullshit."  
  
 _"Language, Virgil!"_  Patton admonished Virgil, his hands on his hips as he frowned at the anxious Side.  
  
"Sorry 'bout that Pat," he took a quick glance over at Patton, then turned his attention back to Deceit. "But it's true. He's lying so hard I'm surprised his pants aren't on fire."  
  
 _"Well he is the personification of Deceit, that's sort of his shtick. You know, I'm surprised your pants have never caught fire, given how literal things can get in the Mind Palace "_  Roman looked Deceit up and down appraisingly.  
  
 _"We are absolutely not setting anyone aflame, Roman,"_  Logan folded his arms across his chest.  
  
 _"Not even for SCIENCE?!"_  Roman held his fist in front of him in a dramatic pose.   
  
 _"..especially not for science. That doesn't even make sense, Roman,"_  Logan said.  
  
"Can we focus for a sec here guys? We have proof that  _Samantha_  here is lying," he extended his thumb and pointed it toward Deceit.   
  
 _"Where do we have...oh. OH!"_  Roman slapped his hand against his forehead.  _"You're shapeshifting, something that is easily done within the Mind Palace...with a few exceptions, of course."_  Roman glanced in Virgil's direction. It was fairly common knowledge at this point that Virgil had difficulty undoing changes brought upon himself by others, hence his distress when the others were taking turns changing him into Thomas' friends. The one time he turned  _himself_  into Talyn was one thing. He could undo his own shifts but not those that were forced upon him.   
  
..then again, perhaps the same was true of the others, and they merely failed to voice their discomfort.   
  
After all, the other three Sides  _approved_  of the activity. It was only Virgil who had to be forced into it, and that was likely where the problem started in the first place.  
  
 _"You can shapeshift out here. You can do that because of the ring that you clearly have within your possession. Otherwise you would not have been able to master that admittedly impressive shift into Joan. How else would you have done so? Magic?"_ Roman chuckled under his breath.

Deceit continued to smile. "I _promise you, I absolutely do not have a r-"_  
  
 _"FALSEHOOD!"_  As Logan shouted, Roman tackled Deceit to the ground and ripped both of his gloves off of his hands. Much to everyone's surprise, there was no ring present on Deceit's hand.  
  
 _"What...but I thought for certain that..."_  Logan looked troubled.  
  
Virgil folded his arms across his chest. Just because Deceit did not have the ring directly on him did not mean that he did not still have the ring in his possession somewhere. "He's probably hiding the ring somewhere else on him. Not that hard to do, really. He might have it sitting on his pocket or on his foot or..."  
  
 _"Ewwww! I'm not going anywhere near Deceit's feet, who knows where they've been?!"_  Roman looked offended at the mere mention of Deceit's feet, like they automatically expected  _him_  to do it in the first place.  
  
 _"I'm flattered, Roman,"_  Deceit muttered in a dull tone, adjusting the bowler hat atop his head.   
  
It was as he gripped the bowler hat that  _it_  happened. One minute Deceit was standing before them. The next? A large dragon stood there instead.  
  
Deceit laughed. Or at least they  _thought_  it was Deceit..until they realized that the laugh sounded distinctly [i]feminine[/i] in comparison to Deceit's.  
  
 _"The dragon witch!"_  Roman exclaimed, summoning his sword and immediately moving into an attack pose.  
  
The dragon witch chuckled under her breath.  _"Oh, I wouldn't do that just yet unless you _never_ want to enter the Mind Palace ever again. Don't you want to know where Deceit is?"_  
  
Virgil was torn, unsure what to believe. Were they speaking with the dragon-witch the entire time, with her posing as Deceit...or was this Deceit posing as the dragon witch to try to throw them off?


	20. Chapter 20

One thing remained certain Virgil's mind - The person who answered the door to them was not Joan. Who they  _actually_  were, however, remained up in the air.  
  
Roman snarled and took a few steps forward, still brandishing his sword.   
  
**"SToP!"**  Virgil's voice blared outward, distorted and echoing. His eyes widened in surprise as his hand flew to his mouth. He hadn't realized he could still do that outside of the Mind Palace.   
  
On the bright side, it stopped Roman in his tracks.  
  
_"Ugh, what it is it Wincent Price? Can't you see that I have a dragon witch to slay?!"_  
  
_"Virgil's right, Roman. We don't know for certain that this is the dragon witch,"_  Logan explained. Virgil cast a grateful look in the direction of the logical Side.  
  
It was hard to tell with the dragon's features, but Virgil was almost positive that there was a smile on the dragon's face. Virgil's fists clenched. To him, it didn't matter whether this dragon was Deceit or the dragon witch - they were undoubtedly a villain, and they found the Sides' attempt to suss out the truth to be a source of entertainment.  
  
_"Who else would it be? Deceit? What does that matter? Deceit is still a villain!"_  Roman protested.  
  
_"Deceit is a villain that we absolutely need in one piece in order to return to the Mind Palace!"_ Logan countered. He'd reached the same conclusion that Virgil, unfortunately, had as well. They could rid themselves of the threat of the dragon witch. Deceit, on the other hand, they  _needed_  if they wished to return to the Mind Palace. How were they to tell the difference between the two, when it was clear that both could shape shift even outside of the confines of the Mind Palace?  
  
_"How do we work out whether the dragon is Deceit or the dragon witch, though?"_  Patton chimed in, casting a worried glance at the other three, voicing exactly what was going through Virgil's mind.  
  
_"We stab the dragon..."_  Roman responded, tightening his grip on his sword and taking a few steps forward.  
  
**"NOooooooOOOOOO."**  Ugh, Virgil's voice was still distorted. He tried cycling through a few breathing exercises in an attempt to calm himself to the point where he did not sound as if he were possessed by a demon.   
  
A chuckle erupted from the direction of the dragon.  _"I grow tired of playing this game. I suppose I should tell you the truth of the matter."_  The other four peered in the direction of the dragon at once.  
  
_"Deceit is long gone. He fled the house as soon as he realized that you were approaching."_  
  
_"How do we know that we can trust what you are saying? You may be Deceit in disguise, leading us astray,"_  Logan frowned, looking unsure what to believe. Virgil didn't know what to believe either. It was just as likely that this was Deceit trying to play games as it was the actual dragon witch. After all, the Sides themselves weren't supposed to be outside of the Mind Palace. Who was to say that something else didn't venture out with them? Or many somethings? All the more reason they needed to either find Deceit or get Deceit to cooperate and get things back to normal.  
  
_"You don't,"_  the dragon grinned, bearing its teeth in a way that looked more than a little threatening.  _"I may very well be Deceit in disguise. I suppose this leaves you at a crossroads."_  
  
Virgil narrowed his eyes.   
  
_"Do you go after Deceit, thus leaving me to my own devices? What if I do happen to be Deceit? What if this is merely an attempt to lead you on a wild goose chase to cover my own tracks?"_  the dragon proposed.   
  
The dragon allowed a moment for the Sides to process this, then continued forth with what they were saying.  _"Or do you stay here with me. What if I turn out to be the dragon witch after all? If you do not pursue Deceit, he gets further away, and it will grow more difficult to find where he is located. He could pose as anyone or anything. You absolutely need him to return home, so the further he gets, the greater the chance that you will never return home."_  
  
Virgil, Logan, Roman, and Patton exchanged looks between themselves.   
  
_"We could separate,"_  Logan said after a moment.  _"Two of us remain here, while two of us pursue Deceit..."_  
  
The dragon tittered.  _"A brilliant idea, Logic. I would expect nothing less. There are, however, risks to that plan as well. The four of you have found one another, and are only looking to add Deceit to your numbers. There is a possibility that all five Sides are present within this room. If the four of you separate, that will lower the numbers to three, and there is no way to tell for certain what might happen to the other two sides while they are away. What would happen if one of you were to get injured or even killed outside of the Mind Palace? What consequences would that have for Thomas? What if it is all in vain?"_

  
Virgil could not help but note that the dragon witch stared directly at him as they were uttering this. They  _knew_  his concerns and were twisting them against him. His nails dug into his palms as his hands remained clenched tightly. 

 _"In addition...what are the implications of the dragon witch being outside of the Mind Palace as well as the Sides? Who else might be outside of the Mind Palace in that case?"_  The dragon's eyes were positively glowing with delight at this point, seeing how their words were getting to the Sides listening to them.  
  
_"So what will you choose? What are the potential consequences of your choices? Tick tock, tick tock! Better decide quickly, lest the stakes get even higher!"_    
  
_"STOP!"_  Everyone's gaze shot over to Patton at once. Even the dragon's laughter abruptly ceased as they glanced over in Patton's direction, surprised. _"I won't let you continue playing games with my family!"_  Patton's stood with his shoulders squared and his fists clenched.

His ring flickered a light blue.


	21. Chapter 21

Virgil wasn't sure what to make of this latest development - and neither, it appeared, was the dragon. It was evident by the way the dragon eyed the ring that sat atop Patton's finger.  
  
Nevertheless, the dragon acted as if they hadn't missed a beat, like they weren't as surprised as Virgil, Roman, and Logan about what was causing Patton's ring to flicker rather than outright glow blue. Then again, they hadn't seen Patton use a power of any sort yet.  
  
_"Oh? Forgive me, but I do not feel that you are in the best position to speak up. Do remember that I have the upper hand here, as I happen to have more information than yourselves. What exactly is it that you want me to do, Morality?"_  
  
Patton clenched his hands into fists and shouted at the dragon.  _"I want you to tell us the truth!"_  
  
Patton's ring began to glow as a bright blue light shot from Patton's ring toward the dragon. The dragon was bathed in a blue glow that encapsulated their entire being.

Whatever this was, one thing was certain - They were about to find out what Patton's ring-granted ability was.

 The dragon's form shifted into a humanoid figure, but it was too bright to make out the dragon's features until the blue light began to fade. Patton's ring ceased to glow, as did the figure.

A wave of utter horror washed over Virgil as he realized that this absolutely was  _not_  Deceit.

The dragon witch clapped.  _"Bravo, bravo! You managed to work out how your ring works, Morality. Unfortunately, that means little as you still do not know where Deceit is, and you wasted precious time you could have been searching for him while you were chatting with me. So sad,"_  the smirk on the witch's face as the witch spoke suggested that the witch, at least, thought the opposite - the witch might  _say_  it was sad, but the witch clearly found the whole thing to be a source of amusement.

_"Where is Deceit you fiend?"_  Roman roared, brandishing his sword once more. With the knowledge that they were with the dragon witch and not Deceit, Roman grew bolder once more. As he should - the dragon witch came from his realm, and thus he was more prepared than any of the others to take on the dragon witch.

The witch smiled.  _"I suppose you'll have to find that out for yourself, won't you?"_  And with a poof, the dragon witch disappeared at once. 

A long silence passed before Roman spoke up.  _"Dash it all! I could have taken the dragon witch out if you all hadn't told me to stand down! It could be Deceit, don't attack~,"_  Roman said in a jeering tone, rolling his eyes.

"It  _could_  have been Deceit, and then where would we have been?" Virgil snapped back, more irritated with the fact that Deceit slipped through their fingers like the slimy snake that he was than with Roman. It was just so  _easy_  to snap back at Roman when he was already snapping at them.

Logan held up a hand.  _"Quiet. Now that Patton has activated his ring's ability, I would like to test something."_  

Virgil and Roman went quiet at once.

_"Roman, would you be able to conjure an image of something? Not an actual life form, but perhaps a shadowy figment of sorts? Or a villainous creature that you fight within your realm?"_ Logan inquired.

_"Shadowy? That's more Welcome to Nightvale over here's thing..."_  Roma gestured to Virgil as he said this. Virgil let out a drawn out sigh.

"Darkness might be more my thing than yours, but I can't conjure anything out here. You can," Virgil retorted.

_"I suppose that is a good point,"_  Roman looked at a spot in the center of the room. Roman's ring lit up, and a gremlin appeared in the center of the room.

 " _Now it's your turn, Patton,"_  Logan looked over to the moral Side. 

_"My turn for what, exactly?"_  It was plain as day that Patton didn't know what Logan was talking about - he was just as confused as Virgil and Roman.  _"I can't summon demons or whatever that...thingy is."_  He pointed to the creature in the center of the room.

_"Excuse you but that is a well designed gremlin and you would do well to recognize art when you see it!"_  Roman huffed, folding his arms across his chest and...pouting?

Logan adjusted his glasses by pushing them upward slightly on his nose.  _"Patton, I would like you to repeat both your actions and your phrasing leading up to when the dragon witch showcased her true form."_

_"Um...okay. Don't hurt my family you gremlin...thingy!"_  Patton clenched his fists and took a few steps forward. He didn't sound anywhere near as fierce as he did before, but seeing as the gremlin posed no immediate threat to the other Sides, Patton did not feel as strongly toward the gremlin as he did toward the dragon witch.

_"Continue. What did you say after that?"_  Logan asked.

_"Tell the truth?"_  Patton replied, though his answer sounded more like a question than an answer itself.

Virgil saw Patton's ring flicker, though, and his eyes trailed back over to Logan, who looked triumphant.

_"Repeat what you said, but this time with more conviction behind your words,"_  Logan instructed.

_"Tell the truth!"_  Patton shouted at the gremlin, watching in wide-eyed surprise as the gremlin glowed blue, then morphed into a shadowy form before disappearing entirely.

Logan looked pleased.

_"Well that settles it. We should begin our search for Deceit promptly,"_  Logan declared.

_"Wait, what did that settle?"_  Patton clutched his ring, looking toward Logan with a confused expression.

_"Your ring, Patton. You can use it to negate illusions and other such falsehoods,"_  the logical Side explained.

_"...you can use it to block Deceit's disguise!"_  Roman called out triumphantly.

"Huh. Looks like we're not out for the count after all," Virgil remarked with a smirk. "Guess it's time to go catch a snake, for real this time."


End file.
